"Annabelle" And "Gone Girl" Race Toward The Finish After Successful Box Office Weekend

Before The Conjuring, there was Annabelle. The creepy little doll is on course to top the box office this weekend, checking in at $15,5 million on Friday. In contrast, David Fincher’s Gone Girl made just $13,2 million on its first day of release – a surprisingly high performance for a horror flick, especially with its release over the Yom Kippur. Things evened out over Saturday, however, and the two films entered the home stretch neck and neck, with numbers in the $37-38 margin.

Annabelle surpassed expectations, coming in second over the slow holiday weekend.

Both have exceeded expectations for the holiday period, since both movies cater to specific tastes. Horror flicks like Annabelle tend to have a reliable, but limited reach of just genre fans. Gone Girl, on the other hand, has received a lot of critical praise and like a lot of Fincher’s flicks, has very wide appeal. The suspenseful thriller dives deep into the psychology of a failed relationship and examines the connection between public pressure, violence and troubled relationships.

Watch the trailer for Gone Girl below.

Annabelle, a New Line Cinema production with a budget of $6,5 million, has more than made up its investment so far, and while it falls slightly behind its predecessor so far, the franchise is still a highly successful venture for New Line.

If all goes according to industry estimates, the top five this week should also include The Equalizer with around $13 million total, the charming animation The Boxtrolls ($12.5 million) and The Maze Runner, which should hold on with around $12 million.