"Annabelle," the spin-off film centering on the haunted doll character from last year's hit supernatural thriller "The Conjuring" did solid biz at #2. While the drama The Good Lie and the faith based action drama "Left Behind" hit with a THUD.
Pamela McClintock of THR:
Capping a dramatic race at the North American box office, David Fincher's R-rated adult drama Gone Girl topped horror spinoff Annabelle as both movies did far better than expected.
Gone Girl took in an estimated $38 million from 3,014 theaters, the top opening of Fincher's career and one of the best showings for star Ben Affleck, who stars opposite Rosamund Pike in 20th Century Fox and New Regency's $61 million adaptation of Gillian Flynn's popular novel. Fincher's top opening is Panic Room, which opened to $30.1 million in 2002.
Mirco-budgeted horror film Annabelle, a prequel to box office hit The Conjuring, grossed $37.2 million from 3,815 theaters. That's a sizeable victory for New Line and Warner Bros., considering Annabelle cost just $6.5 million to make.
Some rivals have the two pictures closer; final weekend numbers will be released Monday.
Based on Friday's numbers, Gone Girl appeared the easy victor, but the race became closer thanks to Annabelle's hold on Saturday (usually, horror falls off). Either way, both movies provided a needed boost for the North American box office following the worst September in six years, with overall weekend revenue up 3 percent.
It's not a surprise that Gone Girl received a B CinemaScore, considering its polarizing subject matter. The film, about the torments of marriage, has plenty of pedigree between Fincher, the cast and Flynn's novel, which has sold more than 6 million copies in hardcover. Flynn also wrote the adapted script for the movie, which opened the New York Film Festival Sept. 26.
Adult dramas generally don't open big but can have impressive legs. That holds true for virtually all of Fincher's films. The Social Network opened to $22.5 million domestically on its way to earning $95 million. And two years before that, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, benefiting from stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, debuted to $26.9 million on its way to earning $127.5 million domestically.
Ben Affleck's Argo also built slowly, opening to $19.5 million on its way to winning the Oscar and earning $136 million domestically.
Heading into the weekend, Fox predicted that that Gone Girl, also starring Tyler Perry and Neil Patrick Harris, would open in the $20 million to $22 million range.
New Line and Warner Bros. were likewise cautious, saying they'd be thrilled if Annabelle crossed $20 million. The movie earned a B CinemaScore (horror titles often get a C).
Returning John R. Leonetti in the director's chair, Annabelle stars Alfre Woodard, Annabelle Wallis and Ward Horton. The film has garnered strong interest among younger moviegoers, who tend to turn out en masse on opening weekend.
The weekend's other new nationwide offering, Nicolas Cage's faith-based thriller, Left Behind, placed No. 6 for the weekend with $7 million from 1,825 locations. Freestyle is distributing the independently financed film.
Reese Witherspoon's Sudanese refugee drama The Good Lie, only opening in 461 theaters, got off to a slow start. The film, from Alcon Entertainment and Warner Bros., placed No. 13 with an estimated $935,000. The good news: It received an A+ CinemaScore, so could benefit from word-of-mouth and build slowly.
Among holdovers, Denzel Washington's The Equalizer enjoyed a strong hold in its second weekend, declining 35 percent to an estimated $19 million for a domestic cume of $64.5 million. The action thriller placed No. 3 after Gone Girl and Annabelle.
Laika and Focus Features' family offering The Boxtrolls came in No. 4 in its second outing, falling even less (28 percent) to $12.4 million for a domestic total of $32.5 million.
Fox's The Maze Runner rounded out the top five, grossing $12 million in its third weekend for a North American cume of $73.9 million.
Next Up: Universal Pictures releases its "Dracula" reboot called "Dracula Untold".
Formerly known as "Dracula Year Zero"--the project centers on Vlad the Impaler (Luke Evans) and his lust for blood which inspired the mythology behind Bram Stoker's classic novel. In this version Dracula is a Transylvanian prince who risks eternal damnation in order to save his wife and son from a Turkish horde.
Here cones The Judge.The initial script by Nick Schenk that Bill Dubuque rewrote sees Robert Downey Jr star as a big-city lawyer who returns home after the death of his mother to learn that his estranged father (Robert Duvall), a judge, is suspected of murder. He sets out to discover the truth and along the way reconnects with the family he walked away from years before.
The live-action adaptation of author Judith Viorst's children's book "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" is here. The story centers on a boy (Newcomer Ed Oxenbould) who has a very horrible day and finds out that other people can have them too.
Jennifer Garner will play his mother. Steve Carell is set to play the boy’s father.Dylan Minnette and Kerris Dorsey will play Alexander’s older brother and sister. Bella Thorne former star of the Disney Channel comedy Shake It Up is also in the film.
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