Box Office Report: It’s no mystery why Gone Girl takes top spot in massive weekend

Australian audiences turned out in droves over the weekend to see David Fincher’s hugely anticipated adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s best-selling novel Gone Girl. The mystery drama took in almost $4.7 million, which is a massive haul for a film of its kind. It truly is that rare kind of blockbuster that challenges its audiences’ minds while entertaining them. The opening was clearly boosted by fans of the novel, but positive word of mouth should keep it going strong for weeks to come. The worldwide success of the film will ensure that Ben Affleck shoots straight back onto the A-List, pulling co-star Rosamund Pike up with him due to her incredible performance, with many already predicting an Oscar nomination (if not a win) for the English actress. You can read our Gone Girl review here.

Last week’s top film, Young Adult adaptation The Maze Runner, did well to settle in second place by defeating two major new releases. Opening over the weekend was Universal’s reboot of the Dracula character, Dracula Untold. The film stars Luke Evans as the titular Count, showing how he became the monster that we all know. It came in at number 3 with $1.97 million, but average reviews may cause it to drop quite rapidly next week. Read our Dracula Untold review here. Faring slightly better with critics but taking a mere $70,000 less than Dracula Untold was horror prequel Annabelle, which shows how the haunted doll from The Conjuring came to be haunted. Critics agree that the film is not as good as The Conjuring, but that it still has some decent scares in its own right. We can expect Annabelle to stick around on the chart for a few weeks in the lead up to Halloween. You can read our Annabelle review here.

As usual, we have some very diverse films opening this week. There is only one major new release – family drama The Judge starring Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall. The film sees Downey Jr. as a lawyer who returns home after the death of his mother, only to again butt heads with his estranged father (Duvall). It will be great to see Downey Jr. tackle a more dramatic role than he has been known for in recent years, and Duvall is always something special. Also opening in limited release is Kevin Smith’s horror comedy Tusk, in which Justin Long’s reporter finds himself held hostage by an insane seaman. You can read our Tusk review here.

All figures from The Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia. The Judge and Tusk will be released in Australian cinemas this Thursday, October 9.

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