If it's Halloween, expect the folks at Blumhouse to come up with another low-budget horror flick to rule the box office. Ouija is the latest attempt by Hasbro to launch one of their toys into a movie franchise, but unlike the bloated flop Battleship this one's actually a success. The $5M Ouija racked up $20M from the genre fans looking for their scare fix. They probably went home disappointed on that score, and chances are the film will drop 70% next week and be gone in a flash, but for now Ouija is a hit.
2. John Wick- $14.5M
Here's a case of solid buzz and star power overcoming low expectations. The Keanu Reeves-led action flick John Wick opened at $14.5M, a strong debut for a movie nobody knew about two months ago. But once those early screenings started rolling out and people started talking about the bloody revenge tale as Reeves' big comeback vehicle, John Wick suddenly was on a lot of radars. And it truly deserves all of the positive response as the film is extremely good, one of the best action movies of the year, and Reeves as good as ever. I'm really digging this new phase of his career focusing on genre films that, tangentially, harken back to his performance in The Matrix. Last year's Man of Tai Chi was excellent and had some amazing fight choreography, and the same goes for John Wick. So yes, let's see some sequels, please.
3. Fury- $13M/$46M
David Ayer's WWII thriller Fury slipped 45% in week two, with the $68M film totaling $46M in two weeks. That's not bad, and the film will earn a profit domestically for sure. However it should do even better overseas since Brad Pitt is such an international superstar.
4. Gone Girl- $11.1M/$124M
5. The Book of Life- $9.8M/$29.9M
6. St. Vincent- $8M/$9.1M
Expanding more than 2200 theaters is the Bill Murray/Melissa McCarthy comedy, St. Vincent, adding $8M for a total of $9.8M. Reviews have been solid but unspectacular, so this one is being powered by the strength of Murray and McCarthy's appeal.
7. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day- $7M/$45.5M
8. The Best of Me- $4.7M/$17.6M
9. The Judge- $4.34M/$34.3M
10. Dracula Untold- $4.3M/$48.3M
