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Well, so much for all the lousy hype about how great that Michael Jackson movie would do. Michael Jackson’s This Is It made only $21 million on the weekend, and with its $3.7 million Thursday haul and $7.4 million Wednesday haul, its grand total is $32.5 million. Big deal!

The studio made it sound as if this movie was going to be this monster hit in the USA, with sellouts everywhere etc. etc. Well, Paranormal Activity has been the one with the sellouts since it opened, and it made $16.5 million this weekend, almost taking down Michael Jackson. It came very close on both Friday and Saturday, in fact, to topping Jackson. On Friday it got $6 million to Jackson’s $7.8 million, and on Saturday the margin was $7.1 million for Jackson to $6.5 million for Paranormal Activity. Overall, the haul for Paranormal Activity since it opened is $84 million.

The bottom line is that Michael Jackson underperformed compared to what everyone expected, while Paranormal Activity continues to overperform. Still, a first place finish isn’t bad, especially considering that the star of the movie is dead. This sort of repeats what Heath Ledger was able to pull off with The Dark Knight — I guess. I hate to be macabre around here but it is Halloween.

To be fair, This Is It did great business internationally, raking in $68.5 million. So yeah, It was a hit, but not that big of one in the grand scheme of things compared to other blockbusters.

The totals for the weekend:

1. Michael Jackson’s This Is It – $21,300,000
2. Paranormal Activity – $16,540,000
3. Law Abiding Citizen – $7,303,000
4. Couples Retreat – $6,097,000
5. -Saw VI  $5,560,000
6. Where the Wild Things Are – $5,081,000
7. The Stepfather (2009) – $3,400,000
8. Astro Boy – $3,035,000
9. Amelia – $3,000,000
10. Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant - $2,809,000

And that is it for me. Back later this week for more box office predictions, some of which I might actually get right, here at the Reject Report.