'Paranormal Activity' Joins the $100 Million Club

Oren Peli is having the greatest Friday the 13th of his life. We all love the shifting Holiday, but none of us can be as happy to greet today as the director of Paranormal Activity, whose film will be hurtling over the $100 million threshold at some point today, which, like his film, is simultaneously believable and unbelievable. I can clearly see why it has dominated at the box office, but I don't think anyone involved with the film (either before or after it was bought) prophesied how monumentally successful it would become.

But I'm not here to tell you once again that you should go see Paranormal Activity, you've already heard that a thousand times over. I would, however, like to use this time to give Oren Peli a standing ovation by putting things a little further into perspective. Within another week, PA will have grossed more money than the cumulative totals of Halloween II, The Uninvited, The Stepfather, and Saw VI. Their combined budgets? Approximately $60 million. If that doesn't show a little innovation goes a long way, I don't know what does.

Even more amazing? Once Paranormal Activity opens internationally, it could potentially earn more money than it cost to produce every single other theatrical horror movie released in the US combined, which by my estimate is around the $170-180 million mark. If that happens, and I am positive it will, I hope that Paramount gives everyone involved with making this film a bonus worth more than any amount of money I'll ever see. Sure, being the most profitable movie all time is a nice feather in your cap, but costing only $15,000 and making more money than the combined budgets of every single other American horror movie of the year? I don't even know what to say to that. It just makes me want to throw my hands up in the air in defeat.

My hat is off to you, Mr. Peli.