'The Devil Inside' tops US Box Office with $33.7M

The frightening horror film ‘The Devil Inside’ which tells a story of exorcists trying to free a woman possessed by evil spirits takes off its demon box office up to $33.7M.

Like the ‘Paranormal Activity’ and ‘Cloverfield,’ the ‘Devil Inside’ is another fictional tale shot in a mock documentary style. It is independently produced movie that the studio bought for $1 million with a low-budgeted horror acquisition for the studio.

According to Paramount, 59 percent of viewers for “The Devil Inside” were under 25 and 85 percent were under 35, prime viewers for Hollywood who had not turned up in their usual numbers for much of last year.

‘The Devil Inside’ was the only new wide release of the weekend after the holiday crush, historically a good time for something different to sneak in and become an unexpected hit, said Don Harris, head of distribution for Paramount.

“For that under-25, under-35 audience that’s looking for something else, that first weekend in January has always been a great weekend to release a movie,” Harris said. “When we saw that weekend open, we took it.”

The ‘Devil Inside’ bumped another Paramount hit, Tom Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol,” out of the top spot after two weekends at No. 1. “Ghost Protocol” slipped to No. 2 with $20.5 million, raising its domestic total to $170.2 million.

Though it raised its expected income, still, some were not interested to watch it. Paramount reported that 16 percent of the audience gave it an A grade, while 19 percent gave it an F. Two-thirds of the audience gave the movie a grade of C or lower.

“For that under-25, under-35 audience that’s looking for something else, that first weekend in January has always been a great weekend to release a movie,” Harris added.

‘Devil Inside’ will surely take off the devil out of you…