The low-budget upstart easily beats the latest entry in Lionsgate’s popular series. Three other new films — ‘Astro Boy,’ ‘Cirque du Freak’ and ‘Amelia’ — flop.

…Paramount indeed has a miracle on its hands with “Paranormal Activity,” a movie produced for $15,000 and acquired for $300,000 that vanquished four new pictures with combined production budgets of more than $155 million to finish No. 1 at the box office this weekend.

As “Paranormal” sold a studio-estimated $22 million worth of tickets on its fifth weekend, Lionsgate’s sixth entry in its annual “Saw” franchise, which has been a reliable cash cow for the independent studio since 2004, opened to a surprisingly weak $14.8 million…(Read the whole LA Times Article by Ben Fritz)