'Paranormal Activity 4' tops America box office

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'Paranormal Activity 4' tops America box office

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The fourth installment in the found-footage franchise raked in $29 million to lead the top 10.

23 October,2012 02:39 pm

Horror flick Paranormal Activity 4 opened atop the North American box office this weekend, while political thriller Argo held onto second place, industry figures showed Monday.The fourth installment in the found-footage franchise raked in $29 million to lead the top 10, while several other pre-Halloween spooky movies also did well, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.Ben Affleck s Argo, which earned $16.4 million, tells the true story of how a CIA agent managed to rescue six Americans who had escaped the embassy in Tehran in 1979 and taken shelter at the Canadian ambassador s residence.Last week s top earner Taken 2 -- Liam Neeson s return as ex-CIA agent Bryan Mills -- was pushed down to the number three spot, earning $13.3 million in its third weekend.In fourth place was animated comedy Hotel Transylvania, in which monsters become Dracula s guests, with $13 million in ticket sales.Alex Cross, starring Tyler Perry as the popular James Patterson detective character, debuted in fifth place with $11.4 million, while another horror flick, Sinister, dropped to sixth place, taking in $8.8 million.Here Comes the Boom, a comedy starring Kevin James as a high school teacher who looks to become a mixed martial arts fighter to raise money for his school, was right behind with $8.4 million.In eighth place was Pitch Perfect, a musical-comedy about a cappella singing groups, which earned $6.8 million.Rounding out the top ten were Frankenweenie, Tim Burton s latest effort, with $4.3 million, and Looper, a time travel mob movie starring Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, which earned $4.2 million.