Box Office: The Devil Inside Scares Up $34.5 Million

Like Jason Voorhees hiding behind the door with a machete, microbudget horror film The Devil Inside came out of nowhere to behead the competition and grab the number one spot at the box office this weekend. The film, bought by Paramount for just $1 million, grossed an all-records-breaking $34.5 million this weekend — the biggest opening for a film in January, like, ever.

The tiny little thriller with a no-star cast knocked Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible- Ghost Protocol right out of the top spot. The big-budget actioner came in at number two, with a still-respectable $20.5 million.

And it's all big studio films rounding out the top five: Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows in third place, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo in fourth and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked in fifth.

Next week, will Queen Latifah's Joyful Noise or Meryl Streep's Iron Lady be able to outsmart the Devil, or will they be left slaughtered at the box office?

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(Photo: Courtesy Paramount Pictures)