'This Is It' wins weekend box office

By Adam Markovitz

"Michael Jackson's This Is It" took in $101 million worldwide since its release.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

"This Is It" raised its worldwide total to a massive $101 million
The concert pic will remain in theaters at least until Thanksgiving
"Paranormal Activity" dropped just 22 percent for a $16.5 million haul

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(Entertainment Weekly) -- Halloween audiences picked beats over blood this weekend, pushing "Michael Jackson's This Is It" to the top spot, while horror phenomenon "Paranormal Activity" scored a strong second-place finish.

With a $21.3 million domestic gross, "This Is It" raised its worldwide total to a massive $101 million that easily breaks the record for a concert doc, though it falls far short of the $250 million that concert promoter AEG reportedly predicted.

Even so, the performance was good enough to convince distributor Sony (which acquired the pic for a mere $60 million) to announce that the concert pic will remain in theaters at least until Thanksgiving.

Still beating expectations in its third wide-release weekend, the sleeper hit "Paranormal Activity" dropped just 22 percent for a $16.5 million haul. At $84.8 million total after six weekends, the surprise smash is now the year's highest grossing horror movie.

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Rounding out the top five are holdovers "Law Abiding Citizen" ($7.3 million), "Couples Retreat," ($6.1 million), and "Saw VI" ($5.6 million).

The weekend's two other newbies both had lukewarm receptions in wide release: "The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day" made $0.5 million at 68 theaters, while "Gentlemen Broncos" earned $10,000 at two sites.

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