As expected, David Fincher's Gone Girl held strong to its audience, slipping only 29% and adding another $26.8M. Genre films like Annabelle or even Dracula Untold tend to be heavily frontloaded while those aimed at older audiences having longer life spans. Unfortunately, this is exactly the audience The Judge was trying to nab, and we'll see how that worked out further down on the chart.
2. Dracula Untold- $23.4M
So perhaps we should take Universal's relaunch of their classic movie monsters more seriously? Unabashedly geared towards fans of superhero flicks, Dracula Untold shifts the vampire villain into a tragic hero in a Braveheart-style war for freedom. The $70M film had a star in Luke Evans, best known for his cheekbones in The Hobbit and Fast & Furious 6, so it didn't pack a ton of star power. That means audiences were genuinely interested in Drac's origin, a fact which should make Universal extremely happy.
3. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day- $19.1M
The film with the overlong title got off to a blistering start with $19.1M, practically guaranteeing Disney is going to make a mint on the $28M-budgeted adaptation of Judith Viorst's book. Interesting connection to Gone Girl: Viorst is jokingly pitched as a suspect in Amy Dunne's disappearance at one point in Gillian Flynn's novel. Anyway, this one will benefit from the presence of Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner, plus the trailers and TV spots have just been a ton of fun. Audiences clearly responded to it, giving it an 'A-' Cinemascore, and with the Columbus Day holiday tomorrow we may see 'Alexander' do even better.
4. Annabelle- $16.4M/$62.1M
5. The Judge- $13.3M
Not that anybody was expecting Iron Man-type numbers for the family courtroom dramedy, The Judge, but $13.3M is still pretty disappointing for a Robert Downey Jr. film. Once eyed as an Oscar hopeful, all that died pretty quick once reviews starting coming out, with positive notice only given to Downey and Robert Duvall's performances. But the truth of the matter is it might have done better if Gone Girl wasn't around targeting the same audience looking for adult-oriented, R-rated thrillers.
6. Addicted- $7.6M
Ever seen Zane's Sex Chronicles late at night on Cinemax? They were more popular than you may know, just as the erotic novels by author Zane are probably read by just about every woman you know. And so there was a deep built-in audience for the adultery drama, Addicted, which opened at only 846 theaters and pulled in a sizable $7.6M. The R-rated film boasts no major stars or big time direction but never really needed it, and this is probably going to encourage Lionsgate to build this as their next urban franchise after parting ways with Tyler Perry early this year.
7. The Maze Runner- $7.5M/$83.8M
Has now surpassed $200M worldwide, by the way.
8. The Boxtrolls- $6.6M/$41M
9. Meet the Mormons- $3.5M
Mormons are people, too, and apparently they go to the movies. And star in them. Meet the Mormons is a documentary about six mormons living in different parts of the world, and their various experiences trying to escape the shadow of Mitt Romney. Okay, I added that last part. But really, the point of this one is showing that Mormons are just like everybody else, and it's a message that is obviously clicking. The film was originally meant to only be shown in the Mormon hotbed of Salt Lake City, but audience reaction convinced the LDS to expand it further. Good move.
10. Left Behind- $2.9M/$10.9M
Also releasing in limited fashion in more ways than one is Kill the Messenger, the Jeremy Renner-led biopic of journalist Gary Webb. Webb had exposed the CIA's drug connection to Contra rebels and had his character assassinated for it. The film is not off to a promising start. Bad reviews have killed any buzz for Renner as an Oscar contender, and it only earned $939K at 374 locations. Yikes. Off to a much better start is the Sundance Award-winner Whiplash, which stars Miles Teller as an aspiring drummer terrorized by JK Simmons. Opening at 6 sites the film earned $143K.
