Meanwhile, the verdict was not great for The Judge, which limped to fifth place, taking in $13.3 million. Despite the presence of Robert Downey Jr. and an intriguing premise, mixed reviews and a now-competitive marketplace for adults meant a more modest opening was in the cards. The R-rated drama, which also stars Robert Duvall, catered to mature audiences, with a whopping 85% of moviegoers over the age of 25. Among other Downey Jr. titles, The Judge did manage to outgross The Soloist‘s opening three days ($9.7 million), but that really isn’t saying much. Regardless, this is a film that should do better with crowds than critics, and so good holds in the coming weeks are definitely possible.
Opening well in a quarter of the theaters was Addicted, a low-budget erotic thriller from Lionsgate, which made $7.6 million to open in seventh place. However, Addicted was playing in just 846 locations, meaning it had a higher per-theater average than any film in the top ten. Based on the best-selling novel by erotic fiction author Zane, the film should expand into more theaters next weekend.
Among more limited releases, Jeremy Renner saw soft results for Kill the Messenger, which brought in just $939,000 from 371 theaters. The Chinese comedy hit Breakup Buddies had a decent stateside opening, taking in $195,000 from 24 locations. The results were stronger for buzzy TIFF titles Whiplash (nearly $144,000 in just six theaters) and St. Vincent (around $121,000 in four locations). Those films should continue to do well as they expand this month.
This October has been a big one at the box office. If estimates hold as they are, this could be the second biggest-grossing weekend in the month of October. The biggest weekend in the month’s history was set the previous week, when Gone Girl and Annabelle opened to nearly $40 million each.
Here are the numbers for the Top 10 films at the North American box office for the weekend of October 10 through 12, 2014:
1. Gone Girl – $26.8 million ($78.3 million total)
2. Dracula Untold – $23.5 million (NEW)
3. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day – $19.1 million (NEW)
4. Annabelle – $16.4 million ($62.2 million total)
5. The Judge – $13.3 million (NEW)
6. The Equalizer – $9.7 million ($79.9 million total)
7. Addicted – $7.6 million (NEW)
8. The Maze Runner – $7.5 million ($83.8 million total)
9. The Boxtrolls – $6.7 million ($41 million total)
10. Left Behind – $2.9 million ($10.9 million total)
NOTE: These numbers are weekend estimates based on Friday and Saturday’s estimated takes. Actual numbers for the three-day weekend are reported on Monday afternoon.