It was an incredibly close race for #1, but in the end, the highly-anticipated book adaptation won the weekend (as long as actuals don't turn out to have these numbers be overrated). Gone Girl opened to $38 million, for a strong $12,608 per-venue average. With strong buzz as well as some early awards season chatter, the film ended up going much higher than anticipated (some were optimistically predicting $30 million). The film is the biggest debut ever for director David Fincher, as well as the third-biggest in Ben Affleck's career. Reviews were strong, while the CinemaScore was a decent "B" (considering the dark, harrowing subject matter). The R-rated flick will have some competition in the weeks ahead, but should it continue to be talked about for awards season, don't be surprised if this holds on strong in the coming weeks. If it has a strong hold next weekend, it could very well keep the #1 spot. Distributor 20th Century Fox produced the adaptation for a relatively expensive $63 million.Projected to come less than $1 million behind it in second is horror spin-off Annabelle. In not a good year for horror films (save for The Purge: Anarchy), Annabelle managed to take advantage of the Halloween season and opened to a fantastic $37.2 million, averaging a potent $11,680 in the process. That's awfully close to The Conjuring (which this movie serves as a spin-off/prequel to), which opened to $42 million back a year and a half ago. Considering follow-ups don't usually come close to their predecessors nowadays, the fact this came so close is incredible enough. Warner Bros. had only a $6.5 million pricetag on this and will see some huge profits from this. As for playability, the CinemaScore was a decent "B" (for the genre), while reviews were generally negative. The Conjuring was one of the rare horror films to hold up well throughout its run. Don't be surprised if this ends up over $100 million.
After topping last weekend, and despite some strong competition, The Equalizer held up decently, off 44% to $19 million. In 10 days, the Denzel Washington thriller has earned a solid $64.5 million, and remains on course to close above $100 million. Should it do so, it will be Washington's fifth movie of his career to earn nine digits.
With no competition for families, The Boxtrolls held fantastically in its second weekend. The stop-motion animated flick was down just 28% to $12.4 million. In comparison, Hotel Transylvania and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 were both down around 35% in their second weekends. In 10 days, it has earned a decent $32.5 million. Competition is strong in the coming weeks for families though, as Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day opens Friday and The Book of Life next week.
The Maze Runner continued to play well, off just 31% in its third weekend to $12 million. Since its debut, the YA flick has picked up a solid $73.9 million, and its chances at $100 million continues to grow. As far as YA movies are, though, this is still squarely middle-of-the road, in between smash successes such as Divergent and mild successes such as If I Stay and The Giver.
The other new nationwide release, disaster flick Left Behind, opened to fairly solid numbers in sixth place. The Nicolas Cage film managed $6.9 million (almost exactly in line with my prediction from Thursday), for a per-venue average of an OK $3,753. The film was a remake of a popular Kirk Cameron movie and was marketed to the faith-based audience. Left Behind was off a bit from God's Not Dead and When the Game Stands Tall, but it came in ahead of Mom's Night Out and The Identical. as well as many analysts' expectations. The movie received a "B-" CinemaScore, while critics were very harsh to it (2% on Rotten Tomatoes). If Christian audiences can turn out for it in the coming weeks, this will end up in great shape. The budget was $16 million.This is Where I Leave You was off 42% in its third weekend to $4 million, and has earned a decent, though unspectacular $29 million in 17 days. With no competition, Dolphin Tale 2 finally had a strong hold, off just 26% to $3.5 million, but has picked up only a so-so $38 million in 17 days. The family sequel will probably be taken out by Alexander next week.
Guardians of the Galaxy spent a 10th-straight week in the Top 10, and was off just a light 19% to $3 million. That is the first time since Frozen that a movie spent 10 weeks or longer in the list. The Marvel blockbuster is at a huge $323.4 million and counting (and is at $650 million worldwide) as it takes its final bow in this list. Rounding out the list was No Good Deed, which was off 45% to $2.5 million in its fourth weekend. The Idris Elba movie has earned a solid $50.2 million in 24 days with not much further to go.
Next weekend gets very competitive as Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, The Judge and Dracula Untold are likely to compete against Gone Girl for the top spot.
