Opening on top, as expected, was Brad Pitt's Fury, which did decent, if unspectacular business. The well-received war thriller pulled in $23.5 million, for a solid $7,406 per-venue average. That is in line with The Monuments Men and Captain Phillip among recent October and similar movies, but considering how strong Gone Girl and The Equalizer opened earlier, plus the strong marketing and Pitt's starpower, its kinda surprising this didn't do at least a little bit more. But the R rating probably held it back somewhat. There isn't a lot of competition in the coming weeks. With good reviews and an "A-" CinemaScore, this should hold on well in the coming weeks.Distributor Sony produced it for $68 million.
After topping for two-straight weeks, Gone Girl had to retreat but it continued to hold well. The David Fincher pic was down just 33% to $17.8 million, and has earned a strong $107.1 million gross in 17 days. Gone Girl will become Fincher's biggest movie of his career, and looks likely to reach $150 million by the time its finished. The film was the year's 23rd movie to pass the century mark.
Debuting in third place with solid results was the animated flick The Book of Life. The Day of the Dead-inspired pic was able to rally in $17 million, for a per-venue average of a decent $5,537. That's in the same range with The Boxtrolls, Dolphin Tale 2 and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day from earlier this Fall, as well as Reel FX Animation Studio's Free Birds from last year. Reviews were solid and the CinemaScore was a good "A-". On the downside, it wasn't a very strong, breakout debut for an animated flick. But considering the competition at play, the ability to perform on par with the competition is still about as good as it gets. Book of Life should play over the next couple weeks before Big Hero 6 arrives in theaters in November. Fox released the films' budget as $50 million.
Following a decent debut, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day was surprisingly able to pull off a strong hold in the midst of new competition. Disney's latest was off just 34% to $12 million, and has earned a solid $36.9 million in 10 days. This one should also play well over the next couple weeks, and could earn as much as $65 million stateside.
Finally, the last new release, The Best of Me only managed a fifth place debut. The Nicholas Sparks adaptation picked up a disappointing $10.2 million, for a per-venue average of a mild $3,474. That's the lowest start yet for a Sparks adaptation, and is less-than-half of Safe Haven and The Lucky One. Despite some solid marketing, this romance just was unable to connect. Some may blame the competition from Gone Girl. Some may blame the horrible reviews (7% on Rotten Tomatoes). Best of Me did earn a "B+" CinemaScore, but this will probably fade fast. The budget was a fairly decent $26 million, so if there's a loss, it probably won't be much for distributor Relativity Media.Following a solid debut, Dracula Untold did drop hard, off 58% to $9.9 million. That's a typical drop for this type of movie, and the film has picked up an OK $40.7 million in 10 days. With Halloween likely to help it stabilize in the next couple weeks, the monster prequel should find its way to around $60 million by the time its done. Overseas grosses have been very solid as well.
The Judge didn't quite hold on strong, but it didn't drop hard either. The Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall courtroom drama was off 40% to $7.9 million, for a moderate $26.8 million gross in 10 days. Look for this to probably wind up around $40 million. Tied with it for seventh place was fellow Warner Bros. pic Annabelle, which fell 50% in its third round to $7.9 million. The horror hit has earned a solid $74.1 million in 17 days and will likely falter next weekend in the face of Ouija.
The Equalizer continued to level off, down 44% to $5.5 million, for a decent $89.2 million in 24 days. Meanwhile, The Maze Runner rounded out the Top 10, off 40% to $4.5 million, for a solid $90.8 million in one month of release. Both films are likely to inch past the $100 million mark by the time they are finished.
Next weekend brings Ouija and John Wick. Will both of them keep October at a smashing pace?
