"The Devil Inside" scores record opening at the BO!

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Paramount's micro-budgeted horror film scores the biggest opening of all time for early January, and the third biggest for the month

In a boost for the domestic box office, Paramount's horror pic The Devil Inside opened to a record-breaking $34.5 million, helping to drive up theatrical revenues by more than 25 percent over last year.

The R-rated movie--acquired by Paramount for only $1 million--scored the best opening ever for early January, and the third biggest for the month after fellow Paramount title Cloverfield ($40.1 million) and George Lucas' 1997 reissue of Star Wars ($35.9 million). Those two films were released in late January.

The Devil Inside is as polarizing as it is successful. Overall, it received a F CinemaScore on Friday night. The overall CinemaScore report showed the film receiving either an F or a D- across all demos.

Underpinning The Devil Inside's strength were younger moviegoers, who have been largely absent from the multiplex. Nearly 60 percent of Friday night's audience were under the age of 25, while 85 percent of the audience was under the age of 34.

Males made up 54 percent of the audience.

Paramount president of domestic marketing and distribution Megan Colligan said the campaign for Devil Inside focused on making the film seem real, evidenced by the slogan "the film the Vatican doesn't want you to see." And on Christmas Eve, the studio released an online trailer that prompted worldwide chatter.

"The campaign was very scary and it was intended to push the envelope," Colligan said. "The conversation online became very robust."

The Devil Inside took the No. 1 spot away from Paramount title Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, which itself stayed strong.

Directed and co-written by William Brent Bell, the documentary style Devil Inside is about a woman who becomes involved in a series of exorcisms after her own mother was supposedly possessed, killing three people. Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Steven Schneider, a producer on the Paranormal Activity franchise, brought the project to Paramount.

The Devil Inside was the only new wide release of the weekend.


Domestic Box Office Jan. 6-Jan. 8

1. The Devil Inside (1) Paramount, $34.5 million

2. Mission: Impossible--Ghost Protocol (4), Paramount, $20.5 million

3. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (4), Warner Bros., $14.1 million

4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (3), Sony, $11.4 million

5. Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (4), 20th Century Fox, $9.5 million

6. War Horse (3), DreamWorks/Disney, $8.6 million

7. We Bought a Zoo (3), Fox, $8.5million

8. The Adventures of Tintin (3), Paramount, Sony, $6.6 million

9. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (5), Focus Features, $5.8 million

10. New Year's Eve (5), Warner Bros./New Line, $3.3 million.

[The Villain]

I should be happy that a horror movie made that much money and is getting the attention its getting but i hate that its such a terrible one that is. It really bothers me that this is doing so well while so many good movies are going unnoticed

[ChronoGrl]

LOL - Looks like it has a 7% on Rotten Tomatoes right now...

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_devil_inside/

[Nini_luv5]

I was gonna watch that one today, but gladly i came to my senses after reading many reviews on how terrible it was...

Instead, i saw "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and it was absolutely the best 3 hours i've ever spent...

That film was absolutely FANTASTIC!