LOS ANGELES — “Annabelle” couldn’t scare off “Gone Girl” at the weekend box office.
The Fox thriller starring Ben Affleck as a man whose wife goes missing overcame the Warner Bros. possessed-doll horror movie with a $38 million debut, according to studio estimates Sunday.
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Both films join the recently released “The Maze Runner” and “The Equalizer” in crossing the $30 million mark this fall, a typically low-earning season at the box office.
“It was virtually a photo finish,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box-office tracker Rentrak. “These two movies couldn’t be more different. It shows how if the marketplace presents a diversity of product, audiences will come out. … It’s been a great post-summer run.”
“Gone Girl” is based on the best-selling novel by Gillian Flynn and was directed by “The Social Network” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” filmmaker David Fincher. The film earned an additional $24.6 million internationally.
“I think David Fincher made a very provocative, thought-provoking film,” said Chris Aronson, head of distribution for Fox. “I think there was this crescendo of publicity and social-media chatter that made ‘Gone Girl’ into a zeitgeist-y movie that you have to see to be part of the conversation.”
“Annabelle” debuted closely behind “Gone Girl” with $37.2 million. The movie stars Ward Horton and Annabelle Wallis as new parents who bring the creepy porcelain plaything seen in last year’s haunted house horror “The Conjuring” into their home.
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