Over the weekend, David Fincher’s suspenseful thriller Gone Girl breezed past box office competition, including the supernatural prequel Annabelle. Fincher's mystery flick about a husband, who finds himself the prime suspect in the disappearance of his wife, did better than any of the director’s previous films and scored a $38 million debut – much hire than industry experts originally predicted.

Gone Girl, Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck plays the anti-hero in Fincher's Gone Girl.

Gone Girl easily blew past Fincher’s previous personal best – the Jodie Foster starrer Panic Room, which opened to $30 million in 2002. Starring Affleck as Nick Dunne and Britain’s Rosamund Pike as missing wife Amy, with Neil Patrick Harris and Emily Ratajkowski in supporting roles, the film was a favorite of critics and a commercial hit for the time of year.

Watch the Gone Girl trailer below.

Meanwhile, Annabelle dropped to second, but only barely. The creepy supernatural flick about a doll possessed by a demonic spirit did far better than your standard horror film, checking in at $37,2 million on a budget of just $5,6 million. This puts it well on course to match its predecessor, The Conjuring. The first movie opened in 2013 with 41,9 million domestically and went on to collect 137,4 in the US by the end of its run (stats according to Box Office Mojo).

More: Annabelle Shocks, In More Ways Than One, Surpasses Gone Girl At The Box Office

The Equalizer, the Denzel Washington vigilante flick released last week, took third after the weekend, taking in $18 million for a total of $64,5 million. The Boxtrolls came in fourth with $2,4 million and a two-week total of $32,5 million. The Maze Runner rounded out the top 5 with $12 million and a total of $73,9 million on its third week.

Annabelle did surprisingly well, but didn't quite manage to pass Gone Girl at the box office.