'Paranormal Activity' breaks 'Witch' record

Paranormal Activity has surpassed The Blair Witch Project to become the most profitable movie ever made.

The film, directed by Oren Peli on a budget of $15,000 (£9,059), beat Saw VI to top the US box office last weekend and grossed $62.4m (£37.9m) in its fifth week on release.

It has now made $65.1m (£39.5m) and has reaped a 433,900% return on its initial investment for Paramount Studios, The Wrap reports.

In comparison, 1999's The Blair Witch Project was made for $60,000 (£36,484) and recouped 414,233% for Artisan Entertainment.

Paramount has spent less than $10m (£6m) on its promotion and the horror film has expanded its initial opening at 12 cinemas to a total of 1,945 for this coming weekend.

"Everybody else thought we should be going faster than we were," said the studio's executive VP of distribution Don Harris. "But I thought we were doing a pretty good job of seeding the ground as we went."

Paramount recently announced that it is considering making a sequel to the surprise hit movie.

Paranormal Activity will open in the UK on November 25.