Universal Pictures’ Ouija led the way last weekend with a first place debut of $19.88 million. The low-budget PG-13 horror film debuted on the low end of pre-release expectations. While it didn’t reach the opening weekend heights of other Platinum Dunes horror films, Ouija still marks another solid performer for the production company. Ouija was no doubt helped out a bit by opening in close proximity to Halloween, but was also likely hurt a bit by arriving so soon after the breakout success of Warner Bros. Pictures’ Annabelle.

Five teens contact evil spirits that killed their friend using a ouija board in Ouija. (Photo: Universal Pictures)

John Wick debuted in second place with $14.42 million. The Keanu Reeves led action thriller from Lions Gate Entertainment opened towards the higher end of expectations, which had risen in recent weeks due in part to surging online activity for the film. John Wick represented just the second wide release for Reeves since 2008’s The Day the Earth Stood Still with the other being last year’s 47 Ronin and showcases that Reeves still has some drawing power after being out of the spotlight in recent years.

Sony Pictures’ Fury was down two spots and a sizable 44 percent from the previous weekend’s first place debut to claim third with $13.36 million. The David Ayer directed World War II film starring Brad Pitt had held up nicely during the midweek, but took a bit of a hit over the weekend from the added presence of John Wick. Fury may also be relatively weekday heavy in general based on its performance thus far. The film has grossed a solid $46.41 million in 10 days.

Twentieth Century Fox’s Gone Girl continued its impressive run with a fourth place take of $11.04 million. The critically acclaimed David Fincher directed film starring Ben Affleck was down a solid 37 percent from the previous weekend. Gone Girl continues to distance itself from pre-release expectations with a 24-day take of $124.04 million. The film is now on the verge of surpassing the $127.51 million final domestic gross of 2008’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button to become the highest grossing film of Fincher’s career.

Fellow 20th Century Fox release The Book of Life rounded out the weekend’s top five with $10.05 million. The modestly budgeted 3D computer animated film was down 41 percent from the previous weekend’s debut. The Book of Life may have taken a bit of a hit from the PG-13 rated Ouija this weekend and producer Guillermo del Toro’s involvement may have also led to some additional front-loading. The Book of Life has grossed a solid $30.16 million in 10 days. That is towards the lower end of expectations and is 6 percent below the recent $32.09 million ten-day take of The Boxtrolls.

In its first weekend of wide release, The Weinstein Co.’s St. Vincent was off to a promising sixth place performance with $7.75 million. The low-budget comedy starring Bill Murray and Melissa McCarthy received a larger expansion last weekend than was initially expected. The move paid off, as St. Vincent opened towards the higher end of expectations and took in a respectable per-location average of $3,395 for the frame.

Santa delivered five new nationwide releases on Christmas Day, but by the weekend audiences had turned their attention back to blockbuster holdovers The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and Frozen. With a diverse set of options, overall business was strong on the final weekend of 2013: the Top 12 earned $185.8 million, which is up 13 percent from the same frame last year.

Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. (Photo: Warner Bros.)

The second Hobbit movie took first place for the third-straight weekend — the only other movie to accomplish this in 2013 was fellow Warner Bros. release Gravity. The Hobbit added $29.04 million. The Desolation of Smaug has now earned more than $189 million, and remains on pace for a final take of $250 million.

Disney Animation’s Frozen continued to exceed even the most optimistic expectations. The animated sensation increased 47 percent to $28.60 million. The movie is benefiting not only from great word-of-mouth, but also from a void of legitimate family entertainment — Saving Mr. Banks turned out to be too mature, while Walking with Dinosaurs never really clicked with audiences. Among 2013 releases, Frozen now ranks seventh with $248.12 million. It is now guaranteed to close with over $300 million.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues took third place with $19.66 million. Through 12 days, the comedy sequel has earned $83.18 million, and it will pass the original movie’s $85.3 million total in a day or two. David O. Russell’s American Hustle held on to fourth place with $18.70 million. So far, the star-studded 70s caper has earned $59.19 million; with plenty of awards recognition still to come, it should have no problem getting to $100 million.

Among the Christmas Day releases, Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street led the pack with $18.36 million ($34.1 million five-day). It is expected that he movie will burn out quickly, though the controversy about the movie’s borderline pornographic content could spur some interest. If Wolf also garners a handful of Oscar nominations, it could theoretically flirt with $100 million before the end of its run.

After a slow start its opening weekend, Saving Mr. Banks saved some face last weekend by improving 44 percent to $13.45 million. Through 10 days, Banks has earned a decent $37.28 million. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty opened in seventh place with $12.77 million ($25.37 million five-day). For star Ben Stiller, that’s miles away from movies like Night at the Museum and the Meet the Parents sequels. It should play well through the next few weeks.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire has now earned $390.99 million. With another week of holidays, it appears to be on pace to top the original Hunger Games ($408 million).

A handful of new releases bombed pretty hard last weekend. Universal’s long-delayed mega-budget samurai movie 47 Ronin earned just $9.91 million ($20.61 million five-day). Ronin isn’t doing particularly well overseas either, and Universal is expected to lose a ton of money on this (some reports have it as high as $175 million). Don’t cry for Universal, though—to this point, they’ve had a banner year thanks to major hits like Despicable Me 2 and Fast & Furious 6. Grudge Match was the biggest surprise of the weekend — and not in a good way. The Robert DeNiro/Sylvester Stallone boxing comedy took in just $7.02 million ($13.14 million five-day), which caps a rough year for the two geriatric stars. Audiences clearly weren’t interested in seeing a reheated version of Rocky and Raging Bull.