The Devil Inside triumphed at the US box office this weekend enjoying a hefty lead over veteran contenders.

Paramount’s newest horror film earned $34.5 million in its debut. The film follows an Italian woman’s involvement in a series of exorcisms on a quest to uncover the mystery behind her mother’s death. The studio paid a mere $1 million to produce the low-budget film, starring Fernanda Andrade (pictured).

Analysts predict that The Devil Inside will quickly fall off the charts in upcoming weeks due to poor reviews.

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol slipped down to second place with gross profits of $20.5 million. The Tom Cruise led action film has earned a total of $170.2 million in its fourth week at the box office. This is the fourth film in the popular Mission: Impossible franchise and it is expected to surpass the earnings of all of the preceding instalments by early next weekend.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows came in third with ticket sales of $14 million. In its fourth week at the box office the sequel to director Guy Ritchie’s 2009 film has earned $157.4 million.