Paranormal Activity shocks box office

With new films including the second place Saw VI, Astro Boy, Cirque du Freak: the Vampire's Assistant and the Hilary Swank Oscar-buzzing Amelia, the word-of-mouth-success Paranormal Activity has joined The Blair Witch Project and its ilk as a beacon to budding filmmakers globally.

SheKnows explored the Paranormal Activity phenomenon over a week ago, but honestly was pleasantly shocked to discover the film atop the box office for this second-to-last weekend in October.

With Halloween knocking on the calendar's door, the box office should be expected to be top-heavy with the horror fare. But, to have the independent scream-fest sit with a $22 million-take is beyond a Hollywood success story -- it is the definition of the American success story.

Spike Jonze continued his success with Where the Wild Things Are adding another $14 million to bring its' domestic total to a hair under $54 million.

Couples Retreat also saw another impressive weekend with the Vince Vaughn-Jason Bateman starring comedy taking in an additional $11 million to reach a stellar fall comedy plateau of $78 million total US box office. Another high performer that continues its successful run is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs that came in ninth place with $5.6 million -- bringing its domestic total to a tasty $115 million.

October 23-25 box office

1. Paranormal Activity, $22,000,000
2. Saw VI, $14,800,000
3. Where the Wild Things Are, $14,420,000
4. Law Abiding Citizen, $12,713,000
5. Couples Retreat, $11,097,000
6. Astro Boy, $7,017,000
7. The Stepfather, $6,500,000
8. Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant, $6,348,000
9. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, $5,600,000
10. Zombieland, $4,300,000
11. Amelia, $4,025,000

Read on for more movies

Hilary Swank dishes Amelia
Anna Faris exclusive: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Astro Boy stars Freddie Highmore and Kristen Bell exclusive interview
Catherine Keener on making Where the Wild Things Are
Vince Vaughn and Malin Akerman chat Couples Retreat