Oct 24, 2011 11:16 AM EST

Paranormal Activity 3 Opens Big

"Paranormal Activity 3" opened up this past weekend with a higher than expected opening, earning $54 million. The previous film in the franchise earned $40.7 million. This was good news for the movie business in general, since film openings have been lackluster since early August's "Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

The film soared over other openers, such as "The Three Musketeers 3D" which earned $8.8 million and "Johnny English Reborn" which earned $3.8 million.