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Box Office Report: David Fincher's 'Gone Girl' Nabs $38M Debut

David Fincher's adaptation of Gillian Flynn's popular novel takes first place with $38 million, while the prequel to ‘The Conjuring’ is a very close second with $37.2 million.

David Fincher's R-rated adult drama Gone Girl topped the box office chart this weekend, taking in $38 million from 3,014 theaters, the top opening of Fincher's career and one of the best showings for Ben Affleck, who stars opposite Rosamund Pike in 20th Century Fox and New Regency's $61 million adaptation of Gillian Flynn's popular novel. The adult thriller also prospered overseas, where it grossed $24.6 million from its first 39 markets for a worldwide launch of $62.6 million. The U.K. led with $6.9 million, Fincher's biggest opening ever.

New Line’s mirco-budgeted horror spinoff Annabelle followed closely behind in second place, bringing in $37.2 million from 3,185 theaters, and cementing a new franchise. A prequel to box-office hit The Conjuring, Annabelle, directed by John R. Leonetti and starring Alfre Woodard, Annabelle Wallis and Ward Horton, cost just $6.5 million to make. Internationally, the movie made $20 million from 24 markets for an early foreign total of $23 million and global tally of $60.2 million.

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. The top 12 films earned a $141.8 million this weekend, up 23 percent from the same weekend last year.

Among holdovers, Denzel Washington's The Equalizer came in third place, taking in $18 million over its sophomore weekend for a domestic total of $64.5 million. Overseas, the $55 million action thriller from Sony, Village Roadshow Pictures and LStar Capital took in $19 million from 70 markets for a foreign total of $39.6 million and worldwide cume of $104.1 million.

LAIKA’s newest 3D animated family film, The Boxtrolls, came in fourth place at the North American box office, earning an additional $12.4 million for a domestic total of $32.5 million. The stop motion feature earned another $6 million internationally for a foreign total of $26 million and global total of $90.5 million.

Twentieth Century Fox’s The Maze Runner rounded up the top five over its third weekend at the North American box office, taking in $12 million for a domestic total of $73.9 million. Worldwide, the YA film adaptation neared the $200 million mark, grossing $16.5 million overseas for a foreign total of $119.1 million and global haul of $193 million.

The weekend's other new nationwide offering, Nicolas Cage's faith-based thriller Left Behind, placed number six for the weekend with $6.9 million from 1,825 locations. Freestyle is distributing the independently financed film.

Shawn Levy's adult dramedy, This Is Where I Leave You, came in seventh place in its third weekend at the domestic box office, taking in $4 million for a total $29 million.

Warner Bros. release Dolphin Tale 2 took the number eight spot in its fourth weekend out with $3.5 million for a domestic total of $38 million.

In ninth place, James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy made $3 million for Disney and Marvel for a domestic total of $323.4 million. Overseas, the tentpole feature has made $330.4 to date for a worldwide total of $653.8 million.

Rounding out the list at number 10, Sony and Screen Gems' Idris Elba thriller No Good Deed brought in $2.5 million for a domestic total of $ 50.2 million.

Overseas, Legendary Pictures' Dracula Untold opened in 25 territories a week ahead of its domestic launch, grossing $21 million, led by Mexico with $5 million.

Also of note, Bollywood's Knight & Day remake, titled Bang Bang, opened in 12th place with $1.22 million, the biggest opening of the year for a Bollywood production.

Box office numbers were obtained on boxofficemojo.com.

Jennifer Wolfe's picture

Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.