Jake Gyllenhaal’s Nightcrawler debuted in over 2,766 locations and unofficially tied with Universal’s Ouija for the top spot at the box office this weekend.
Both of the thrillers made roughly the same amount with $10.9 million, however Nightcrawler narrowly passed the séance horror film with just $9,000, according to Rentrak. Once studio reports are finalized Monday morning, they could both end up tying for the top spot at the box office, although others predict that Ouija may overcome in the end.
Alongside Gyllenhaal, the Dan Gilroy-directed film stars Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed and Bill Paxton. Audiences gave the indie crime-thriller a B minus CinemaScore, while critics gave it a 94 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes. Moviegoers were primarily dominated by males with 56 percent present, while over 66 percent of attendees were over the age of 25.
“Halloween clipped us a little bit, but we have a nice, long run ahead of us,” said Open Road chief marketing officer Jason Cassidy. “We feel great about where we are and with the darker nature of the movie, we thought Halloween was an opportune time to go out. Also, there were not a lot of other wide releases.”
The All Hallow’s Eve weekend’s other wide releases – Before I Go to Sleep and the re-release of Saw – both did less than well. The former, starring Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth, was expected to take in $5 million, but resulted with a meager $2 million from 1,935 theaters and a C plus CinemaScore. The latter did equally as poorly when it debuted over the weekend for its 10th anniversary with $650,000 in ticket sales from over 2,063 locations.
Holdovers for the third and fourth spot are Fury and Gone Girl, which took in $9.1 million and $8.8 million, respectively. David Fincher’s movie adaption of Gone Girl managed to surpass The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, totaling out to $136.6 million domestically and achieving the title as Fincher’s highest-grossing film.
Rounding out the top five is the animated Day of the Dead feature, The Book of Life, with $8.3 million for the weekend, and a domestic grand total of $40.5 million.
Top 10 Films at Weekend Box Office: October 31 – November 2
- Ouija – $10.9 million
- Nightcrawler – $10.9 million
- Fury – $9.1 million
- Gone Girl – $8.8 million
- The Book of Life – $8.3 million
- John Wick – $8.1 million
- St. Vincent – $7.8 million
- Alexander…Very Bad Day – $6.5 million
- The Judge – $3.4 million
- Dracula Untold – $2.9 million
