WEEKEND BOX OFFICE BREAKDOWN: October 24-26, 2014

~Matt Reed

OUIJA opened at #1 with a so-so $20 mil. Consider that ANNABELLE opened three weeks ago to the tune of $37.1 mil against a measly $6.5 mil budget and OUIJA suffers by comparison. ANNABELLE has earned $79.4 mil domestic and a whopping $206.1 worldwide. With what will surely be a steep decline next weekend, OUIJA certainly won’t match those numbers.

JOHN WICK made just enough to capture the second spot this week. With a $14.1 mil haul, it’s Keanu Reeves’ best opening since THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL earned $30.4 mil in 2008. WICK should end up with roughly the same gross as his last film 47 RONIN. That movie opened December 2013 and earned $38.3 mil domestic. I can’t imagine WICK cost as much as RONIN’S $170 mil, so it should be a decent if not spectacular earner.

FURY fell two spots losing 45% of its audience week-to-week and now has grossed $46 mil against a $68 mil budget. Excluding voice work in two animated films this decade, FURY should wind up as Brad Pitt’s third best film behind WORLD WAR Z ($202.3 mil) and MONEYBALL ($75.6 mil).

ST. VINCENT went national this weekend after opening three weeks ago in limited release. The Melissa McCarthy/Bill Murray comedy came in #6 and has now grossed $9.1 mil domestic.

Short Takes: GONE GIRL will become David Fincher’s highest grossing film this week, surpassing THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON’S $127.5 mil in 2008. The critical darling BIRDMAN expanded to 50 theatres this weekend and in the process had the best per screen average of any film in release ($28,720). It’s now grossed $2 mil after two weeks. WHIPLASH, also a critical hit starring JK Simmons, hasn’t faired quite as well. Open a week longer than BIRDMAN and on only four fewer screens, it’s earned just $748,000.

Up Next: BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP, a thriller produced by Ridley Scott starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman, NIGHTCRAWLER, a crime drama starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Bill Paxton and Rene Russo, and the tenth anniversary rerelease of the original SAW.

Here, as always, are the weekend domestic estimates courtesy of our friends at boxofficemojo.com: