'Couples Retreat' Wins & 'Paranormal Activity' Cracks The Top Five In The Saturday Box Office Report

1. "Couples Retreat" ($12.3 million)
2. "Zombieland" ($4.75 million)
3. "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" ($3.1 million)
4. "Toy Story" & "Toy Story 2" (3-D Double Feature) ($2.54 million)
5. "Paranormal Activity" ($2 million)

The cheese stands alone as the Vince Vaughn-starring "Couples Retreat," the weekend's only new wide release, debuted on Friday in an expected first place finish at the box office. "Couples Retreat" marks the directorial debut of Peter Billingsley, who is most famous for his childhood portrayal of Ralphie in the classic "A Christmas Story" — apparently, Billingsley didn't shoot his eye out, because his directorial vision resulted in an $11.5 million Friday opening according to the numbers from Deadline Hollywood Daily.

Still, "Couples Retreat" will have to fight to maintain this top spot in the weeks to come, thanks to poor word of mouth on the film. The reviews have been mediocre at best despite the all-star comedy team of Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau and more. For now, the joke is on theatergoers as "Retreat" is on target for a projected $28 million weekend.

Sony Pictures might have lost the top seat, but the tag-team of "Zombieland" and "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" still claimed the next highest spots at the box office with $4.8 million and $3 million, respectively. The "Meatballs" train might finally be losing some steam, allowing the "Toy Story" 3-D double feature a very close $2 million Friday in fourth place.

The real surprise story, however, is "Paranormal Activity," the Oren Peli-directed horror film currently touted as "the scariest movie of all time." Whether or not the film actually lives up to that description, the Paramount-distributed "Paranormal Activity" could be quite scary for rival studios — the ghost-filled thriller earned an amazing $1.3 million on Friday night in only 159 theaters.

"Paramount is going to make a ton of cash on this pickup," a rival studio executive told Deadline Hollywood. "They ain't spending anything on it, and who knows where the ceiling is!"

What are you more surprised by — the reviews for "Couples Retreat" or the amazing fifth place finish for "Paranormal Activity" in less than 200 theaters? Sound off in the comments section or on Twitter!

Tags Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, couples retreat, Paranormal Activity, toy story, toy story 2, zombieland