Judging by the reviews that some filmgoers have made to the horror flick, “The Devil Inside” was supposed to attract few cinema viewers, says Reuters. Nevertheless, the low-budget production has managed to win $34.5 million during weekend based on the tickets that were sold in America and Canada.

“The Devil Inside” was at the top of the weekend box office due to the large numbers of tickets that have been sold at cinemas across U.S. and Canada. For some reason, the movie was preferred to Tom Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol”. As a matter of fact, “Mission Impossible” occupied the second position of the classification with $20.5 million registered at domestic theaters.

This was the only weekend when Tom Cruise’s fourth movie was on the second place because he had been leading the box offices during the past two weeks. So far, the motion picture has gathered $458.1 million around the globe since its debut last month.

“The Devil Inside” and “Mission Impossible” are not actually competing against each other. The movies were both produced by the same company, that is, by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc. The company spent only $1 million for the acquisition of the “Devil” and they described it as “polarizing” audiences.

Don Harris, president of domestic distribution for Paramount told the press that part of the Devil’s success is due to the fervid discussions that are currently undergoing between the viewers of the movie. Some claim the production is worth watching, whereas others think it is a waste of time. Harris further added that Paramount relied on the same marketing strategy used for the promotion of its blockbuster, low-budget “Paranormal Activity”, hence, the unexpected huge opening-weekend take.

Based on the data provided by Paramount, the “Devil” seems to appeal to younger segments of viewers. In fact, 59 percent of filmgoers who have watched the movie are under age 25. Moreover, male viewers seem to be more attracted to horror stories as 54 percent of the audience were males.

On the third position of the classification was “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” which collected $14.1 million. On the fourth and the fifth places we find the adult thriller “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and the family film sequel “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked”.