Weekend Preview: Oct 9th - 11th

This weekend, Couples Retreat is the sole new release and looks to debut strongly. Though it has an extensive comedic cast, the real draw here is Vince Vaughn who has been very consistent in the past few years (Wedding Crashers, The Break-Up, Fred Claus, and Four Christmases). The trailer and TV spots are pretty strong and have a great "getaway" feeling to it, which is essentially why anyone goes to the theater. Couples Retreat should get close to $30 million this weekend.

One of the most interesting movies this weekend to watch will be Paranormal Activity. Paramount's done a fantastic job marketing this horror flick in a new, effective method. The movie's been playing only at midnight for the past several weeks in select cities. Its online trailer is quite chilling and gets people excited for a great theater experience. At the end of the trailer, it encourages people to "demand" it for their theater, which over 500,000 people have already done. It should make at least $3 million this weekend in only 159 theaters and continue to grow and grow in the weeks to come.

Final predictions:

1. Couples Retreat - $27 million (NEW)
2. Zombieland - $14 million (-43%)
3. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs - $11.5 million (-27%)
4. Toy Story 3D - $9 million (-28%)
5. Surrogates - $4.1 million (-43%)
6. The Invention of Lying - $3.6 million (-49%)
7. Paranormal Activity - $3.2 million (+500%)
8. Capitalism: A Love Story - $2.7 million (-39%)
9. Whip It - $2.7 million (-42%)
10. Fame - $2.6 million (-44%)
11. The Informant! - $2.2 million (-40%)

With no other new releases besides Couples Retreat, the holdovers should have lighter than normal drops, especially the two family films, Cloudy and Toy Story 3D. Zombieland should have a great 2nd weekend hold with its great word of mouth. The Invention of Lying will most likely fall the highest.