Entertainment

'Insidious 2' Blew Up the Box Office This Weekend

by Alanna Bennett

If there's anything Paranormal Activity proved, it's that horror movies made on a shoestring budget are shockingly adept at stealing money from all the other box office hopefuls. This was proven once again this weekend that began with Friday the 13th— the box office was dominated by Insidious: Chapter 2 . Poor Robert De Niro's The Family just couldn't compete with Patrick Wilson's face and a gaggle of pissed off ghosts.

Projected at $25 million, Insidious 2 had already reached $20 million by Friday night, scaring up a solid $41.1 million by Sunday. Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer's Luc Besson-directed mafia movie The Family hit a distant second place, raking in $14.5 million, which still exceeded what many expected the film to earn.

The first Insidious film, which was released in 2011, brought in a $54 million total. Wilson theorizes that the film's success this weekend can be attributed to "combining goodwill from the first movie with a Friday the 13th release date."

The spooky vibe paid off big for Insidious' sequel and a whole host of successful horror movies plan to follow suit. The Conjuring, The Purge, and Sinister are all planning sequels — Insidious: Chapter 2 likely symbolizes a big win for their future box office numbers.