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.

Sony Pictures’ Fury debuted in first place last weekend with $23.70 million. The David Ayer directed war film starring Brad Pitt opened on the low end of pre-release expectations. Fury will hope to hold up well going forward. The audience for Fury skewed 60 percent towards male moviegoers and 51 percent towards moviegoers over the age of 35.

Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) with Noman (Logan Lerman) in Fury. (Photo: Giles Keyet/Sony Pictures)

After leading the box office each of the past two weekends, 20th Century Fox’s Gone Girl placed second last weekend with $17.51 million. The critically acclaimed David Fincher directed film starring Ben Affleck continued to hold up well, as it was down just 34 percent from the previous weekend. Gone Girl surpassed the $100 million mark last weekend and has now grossed $106.78 million through 17 days of release. Before long, Gone Girl will zoom past the $127.51 million final domestic gross of 2008’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button to become Fincher’s highest grossing film to date without adjusting for ticket price inflation.

Fellow 20th Century Fox release The Book of Life followed closely behind in third with a $17.01 million debut. The modestly budgeted computer-animated film opened in line with expectations and probably received an added boost from arriving a couple weeks before Halloween and Day of the Dead. The Book of Life opened nearly on par with the recent $17.28 million launch of The Boxtrolls.

Fellow family film Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day claimed fourth place with $11.46 million. The Walt Disney Studios’ release starring Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner fell 38 percent from the previous weekend. That represented a very solid hold, especially given the added competition for family audiences from The Book of Life. Alexander has grossed $36.29 million through 10 days of release, which is in line with expectations and represents a healthy performance with the film’s modest price tag in mind.

Relativity Media’s The Best of Me rounded out the weekend’s top with $10.00 million. The Nicholas Sparks adaptation starring Michelle Monaghan and James Marsden opened on the low end of modest expectations. The Best of Me opened softer than most Sparks adaptations.

In their second weekend of release, Universal Pictures’ Dracula Untold and Warner Bros. Studios’ The Judge claimed sixth and seventh places respectively with $9.99 million and $7.92 million. Dracula Untold was down a sharp 58 percent from the previous weekend’s stronger than expected start, while The Judge was down a solid 40 percent from the previous weekend’s modest debut. Respective 10-day total grosses stand at $40.83 million for Dracula Untold and at $26.82 million for The Judge.

Warner Bros.’ Annabelle placed in eighth with $7.88 million. The low-budget spin-off to The Conjuring was down 50 percent and has grossed a stronger than expected $74.08 million in 17 days. Annabelle will face new direct competition this coming weekend when Universal Pictures unleashes Ouija in theaters on Friday.

Twentieth Century Fox’s Gone Girl was able to hold off four major newcomers last weekend to remain in first place with $26.41 million. The critically acclaimed David Fincher directed film starring Ben Affleck held up extremely well last weekend, as it was down just 30 percent from the previous weekend’s stronger than expected start. Gone Girl is benefiting from strong word of mouth, strong critical reviews and from skewing heavily towards older moviegoers. The film also received an added boost last weekend from expanding into an additional 270 locations. Gone Girl has grossed an impressive $77.89 million through 10 days.

Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck, left) is question about the disappearance of his wife Amy by detectives while his in-laws look on.
(Photo: Merrick Morton/Twentieth Century Fox)

Dracula Untold was the weekend’s top new release with a second place start of $23.51 million. Universal Pictures’ action horror film starring Luke Evans exceeded pre-release expectations and represented a rebound for action horror after the poor performance of I, Frankenstein back in January. Coming on the heels of last weekend’s stronger than expected performance of Annabelle, audiences are clearly in the mood for horror themed fair at the moment. Universal Pictures will hope to ride that wave again later in the month when it releases Ouijaon on Oct. 24.

While it had to settle for third place last weekend, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day was off to a very solid start of its own, especially with its modest cost in mind, with $18.36 million. The family film from Disney Entertainment starring Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner opened in line with expectations. Alexander opened 17 percent below the $22.13 million debut of 2010’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid, but going forward could very well display stronger holding power in comparison.

Fellow new release The Judge debuted in fifth place with $13.12 million. The Robert Downey Jr. led drama opened on the low end of expectations. Despite the drawing power of Downey, potential for The Judge was ultimately limited in part by lackluster critical reviews and in part by the break-out performance of Gone Girl with older moviegoers.

Fellow Warner Bros. Studios’ release Annabelle claimed fourth place with $15.86 million. On the heels of the previous weekend’s stronger than expected start, the low-budget spin-off to The Conjuring was down 57 percent from the previous weekend. While that was a sizable second weekend decline, it was also still a respectable decline given the film’s genre, its strong start and the stronger than anticipated performance of Dracula Untold. Annabelle has grossed an impressive $61.65 million in 10 days.

In its third weekend of release, Sony’s The Equalizer placed in sixth with $9.70 million. The Denzel Washington led action thriller fell 48 percent from the previous weekend, as the film continues to be somewhat front-loaded thus far. With that said, The Equalizer is still performing in line with its lofty expectations with a 17-day take of $79.86 million and is still very likely to surpass the $100 million domestic milestone before the end of its run.

Addicted opened in seventh place with $7.49 million. The low-budget thriller from Lionsgate and Codeblack Films performed reasonably well, especially given that it was only playing in 846 locations last weekend. That gave Addicted a healthy per-location average of $8,848 for the period. Lionsgate will expand the film into additional locations next weekend.

It was an impressive weekend at the box office, as both 20th Century Fox’s Gone Girl and Warner Bros. Pictures’ Annabelle over-performed in what turned out to be a very tight race for first place between the two new releases. Gone Girl ultimately took first place with $37.51 million, while Annabelle placed in an extremely close second with $37.13 million. The two films were separated by only $378,854 for the weekend.

Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) finds himself the chief suspect behind the shocking disappearance of his wife on their fifth anniversary in Gone Girl. (Photo: Merrick Morton/20th Century Fox)

With $37.51 million, Gone Girl exceeded pre-release expectations, which had increased as the film’s release neared thanks in part to strong reviews and strong pre-sales. The critically acclaimed David Fincher directed film starring Ben Affleck delivered the 10th largest opening weekend performance of all time for the month of October without adjusting for ticket price inflation. Gone Girl represented the largest debut ever for Fincher — his previous best being the $30.06 million debut of 2002’s Panic Room — and the third largest start ever for Affleck behind only 2001’s Pearl Harbor and 2003’s Daredevil.

With $37.13 million, Annabelle exceeded expectations in a big way. Given its lesser expectations and significantly lower price tag than Gone Girl, Annabelle had the more impressive start last weekend. However, it is also highly likely that the low-budget spin-off to The Conjuring won’t hold up as well as Gone Girl will going forward. Without adjusting for ticket price inflation, Annabelle registered the 11th largest opening weekend ever for the month of October. Annabelle clearly benefited largely from audience goodwill generated by The Conjuring. The film opened just below the respective $41.86 million start of The Conjuring.

On the heels of the previous weekend’s strong start, Sony Pictures’ The Equalizer was down two spots and 45 percent last weekend to place in third with $18.75 million. The Denzel Washington led action thriller had a solid second weekend hold, especially when taking into account the strong debuts of Gone Girl andAnnabelle. The Equalizer continues to perform towards the higher end of its lofty expectations with a 10-day take of $64.24 million.

The Boxtrolls held up nicely in its second weekend with a fourth place take of $11.98 million. The latest stop motion animated film from Focus and Laika was down a slim 31 percent from the prevous weekend. The Boxtrolls is on course to have strong staying power after last weekend’s strong hold. The Boxtrolls has grossed a stronger than expected $32.09 million in 10 days, which places the film 14 percent ahead of the $28.26 million 10-day take of ParaNorman, which fell 39 percent in its second weekend to gross $8.64 million.

20th Century Fox’s The Maze Runner also held up nicely last weekend with a fifth place gross of $11.63 million. The successful young adult adaptation was down just 33 percent from the previous weekend. The Maze Runner continues to display strong holding power for a young adult adaptation and has grossed a stronger than expected $73.56 million through 17 days of release. Both The Maze Runner and The Boxtrolls appear to have received an added boost last weekend from the Yom Kippur holiday.

Freestyle Releasing’s Left Behind debuted in sixth place with $6.30 million. The faith based thriller remake starring Nicolas Cage opened towards the lower end of its modest expectations. Left Behind opened 32 percent below the $9.22 million launch of Freestyle’s God’s Not Dead earlier this year and will be hard pressed to hold up anywhere near as well as God’s Not Dead did.

John Form has found the perfect gift for his expectant wife, Mia — a beautiful, rare vintage doll in a pure white wedding dress. But Mia’s delight with Annabelle doesn’t last long. On one horrific night, their home is invaded by members of a satanic cult, who violently attack the couple. Spilled blood and terror are not all they leave behind. The cultists have conjured an entity so malevolent that nothing they did will compare to the sinister conduit to the damned that is now … Annabelle.

Mia (Annabelle Wallis) finds the Annabelle doll in her missing daughter’s crib. (Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures)

Annabelle is a prequel to director James Wan’s (he’s a producer on this one) 2013 hit The Conjuring and the possessed porcelain doll in both movies.

This time, the movie tells the story of Annabelle, and how the creepy doll came to be possessed. The film starts with the nurses, whose apartment the doll was terrorizing in The Conjuring, telling their story presumably to paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, but Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, who played the Warrens in the first film, don’t return for this one.

Director John R. Leonetti takes us back to the early 1960s, where we meet medical-school student John Form (Ward Horton) and his wife Mia (Annabelle Wallis), a young couple expecting a baby. John surprises Mia with the doll she’s been looking for to complete her collection and it’s Annabelle.

The doll is just as horrible looking before it gets all beat up. Why anyone would want Annabelle or any of the creepy dolls in their home is anyone’s guess, but Mia is delighted.

Earlier, while watching the news, Mia sees a report of the Manson family murders. That night, the next door neighbors’ estranged daughter who has run off to join a cut, breaks into her parents’ house with her boyfriend and kills her parents. While John attends to the neighbors, the daughter and her boyfriend somehow get in the expecting couple’s house. While the boyfriend attacks Mia, the woman enters the nursery and pics up Annabelle. The male attacker is killed by police, and the woman slits her own throat while holding the doll, spilling her blood on it.

Soon weird and dangerous things start happening – the sewing machine starts running in the middle of the night, the stereo comes on, the stove turns on and a pan of Jiffy Pop popcorn explodes, starting a fire. Mia gives birth to a daughter and eventually the couple moves into an apartment to flee the strange happenings in the house, even though John put Annabelle out with the trash.

While unpacking, Mia finds Annabelle in a box and puts her back on the baby’s shelf. Whatever evil was plaguing them in their old house only gets worse and John suggests going to their priest (Tony Amendola) for help; Mia confides in Evelyn (Alfre Woodard), who owns a bookstore down the street with a large occult section.

How many heels does it get?

While the doll helped frame The Conjuring, it plays a major role in Annabelle. But while the original was based on the true-life story of paranormal researchers Ed and Lorraine Warren, this one is pure fiction from screenwriter Gary Dauberman who throws in a demon. Annabelle is a real doll — although a large Raggedy Ann in real life — that is locked up in an occult museum in Connecticut owned by the Warrens and visited only by a priest who blesses her twice a month. But where The Conjuring took classic horror conventions and made them fresh and exciting, Annabelle is a predictable collage of frights that are less about atmosphere and don’t evolve organically from the story. Rated R. Opens Oct. 3, 2014.

My rating: 3 out of 5 Heels