'PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3' was certainly active at the U.S. Box Office this weekend, notching up $54 million, making it the most successful horror debut ever- beating the second instalment of the franchise which set $40.7 million set last year.

The first of the 'Paranormal Activity' film series was initially released in 2007 and saw a young middle class couple disturbed by a mysterious presence in their new house. Released on a supposed budget of just $15,000, the movie went on to enjoy a 'Blair Witch'-like success, and by 2009 was a massive success having spread through word of mouth and shown at midnight in some cinemas. Following further success of the second film - which followed a similar premise - it was expected that the new release would also perform well at the box office, reports the Daily Mail. Hollywood.com Box Office analyst PAUL DERGARABEDIAN praised the movie's status as a brand, calling it "as solid as the Twilight brand or the Jackass brand," before expanding, "there are certain brands that just transcend any kind of box-office rhyme or reason. They just resonate. These are shot in someone's house, they look like they're shot with a home video recorder, and people just relate to it."

The film was released through Paramount studios, and their President of distribution DON HARRIS suggests it's the best of the three, saying "Ultimately, it gets back to why there's still a theatrical business, why people still go to the movies. We want to laugh in a group, we want to be scared in a group, people like to cry in a group in the dark where nobody can see them crying. It's all the reason movie theatres exist and this genre has always been front and centre".