“Paranormal Activity’’ won a weekend battle of fright films over part six of the “Saw’’ franchise. Paramount’s upstart chiller went into nationwide release and took over the No. 1 spot with $22 million. That compares to just $14.8 million for the debut of “Saw VI.’’ It was the worst opening ever for a film in Lionsgate’s “Saw’’ series, whose previous low was $18.3 million for the original movie. “ ‘Paranormal’ ate their lunch,’’ said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. “There’s no other way to explain it.’’ The previous weekend’s No. 1 movie, the Warner Bros. tale “Where the Wild Things Are,’’ fell to No. 3 with $14.4 million. Summit Entertainment’s “Astro Boy’’ opened at No. 6 with $7 million, Universal’s “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant’’ debuted at No. 8 with $6.3 million, and Fox Searchlight’s “Amelia’’ premiered at No. 11 with $4 million. (AP)
