October 3-5, 2014 ended up being the biggest October opening ever on the backs of David Fincher and Ben Affleck’s “Gone Girl” and the horror prequel “Annabelle.” We hated “Annabelle” but theater goers seemed to enjoy it as it was a neck and neck battle for first place with “Gone Girl.”
Both films were able to cash in on previously established properties, “Gone Girl” the novel on which it is based, and “Annabelle” on “The Conjuring,” which came out not long ago and has a sequel coming out soon. This most likely bolstered both films in the box office but the holdover next week will be the true measure.
| Rank | Title | Weekend Gross | % Change | Total Gross | Week # | ||||||
| 1 | Gone Girl | $38,000,000 | – | $38,000,000 | 1 | ||||||
| 2 | Annabelle | $37,200,000 | – | $37,200,000 | 1 | ||||||
| 3 | The Equalizer | $19,000,000 | -44.3% | $64,500,000 | 2 | ||||||
| 4 | The Boxtrolls | $12,425,000 | -28.1% | $32,539,000 | 2 | ||||||
| 5 | The Maze Runner | $12,000,000 | -31.2% | $73,921,000 | 3 | ||||||
Next weekend we have a kids film in “Alexander,” the possible Universal Monsters revival in “Dracula Untold” and Robert Downey Jr. as a clever lawyer in “The Judge.” It’s going to be an interesting weekend.
A quick note on budgets and dollar figures:
Films making back their budgets is a good sign, but that is just the money to film. It doesn’t include distribution and marketing. Marketing can cost as much as a film. That big Superbowl spot is spendy. So take that into account when judging a films success. Hitting $100 million isn’t the same as it once was.
All dollar amounts in the top 5 come from estimates based on ticket sales unless noted otherwise. Occasionally this article will be published when actual results come out, which is usually late Monday afternoon. For more about this and other ins and outs of movie tracking click here.