Notable Openings This Weekend: Annabelle, Gone Girl, Left Behind
We are officially out of the doldrums of September. Holy Hanukkah, that was a rough one! Who could forget when No Good Deed and Dolphin Tale 2 battled it out. Wow, talk about a regular Muhammad Ali/Joe Frazier bout. Or how about when The Identical, against all odds, made over $1 Million in its opening weekend. It did it! I know we all have fond memories of the September box office, but it’s time to move on. October is here, which means our first Halloween entry comes to town with Annabelle. David Fincher and Ben Affleck present the initial Oscar meal of the season. And what the hell, why not throw crazy Nicolas Cage into the mix? October, I’m ready for you!
Gone Girl is poised to have a big opening weekend. Its got star power in Ben Affleck, an A-list director, an adaptation of a beloved book, and its been marketed like crazy. I haven’t been blown away by the trailers, but they are certainly intriguing. There’s really nothing else to say – it’s going to do well. For this to be an Oscar contender though, it’s got to have some staying power. Let’s not forget another Ben Affleck film that opened in October a couple years, one of which was very well remembered. There’s no reason why Gone Girl can’t pull an Argo.
Gone Girl isn’t the only big draw this weekend though. The Conjuring came out of nowhere to be a surprise hit last year, and already we got the spin-off with Annabelle. It has a scary looking doll, so there you go. The Conjuring opened to almost $42 million. There’s no way Annabelle comes close to that. The Conjuring is one of those nice surprises/out of nowhere movies, but come on – we’ve already forgotten it. Nevertheless, Annabelle should do just fine.
The last movie opening in wide release is Left Behind. You could say this film is destined to be…fine, I won’t do it. You’re welcome, America. Anyway, Nicolas Cage hasn’t exactly been drawing them in, and I’ve barely seen any marketing for it. Left Behind won’t be cracking the top five anytime soon.
How Will It All Break Down…
It will be a healthy weekend at the box office, but Gone Girl is the automatic #1. If it gets good word of mouth, Gone Girl could hang around for a while before those big November releases come into play.
TOP 5 BOX OFFICE PREDICTIONS
1) Gone Girl — $35 Million
2) Annabelle — $24.5 Million
3) The Equalizer — $18 Million
4) The Boxtrolls — $10 Million
5) The Maze Runner — $9 Million
