All eyes turn to Monday’s confirmed results after Fox-New Regency’s mystery claimed number one and Warner Bros’ horror debut Annabelle had to settle for second place on an estimated $37.2m.

Gone Girl

David Fincher directed Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl, which recently opened the New York Film Festival. New Regency produced and financed the film along with 20th Century Fox.

Annabelle tells of a couple terrified by a possessed vintage doll after Satanists raid their home. Nic Cage sci-fi thriller Left Behind arrived at number six through Freestyle Releasing on $6.9m.

Fox International Productions’ and Fox Star India’s Bollywood adventure comedy Big Bang opened at number 12 on $1.2m from 271 sites and scored a tremendous $25.4m from approximately eight markets. Fox claimed the North American debut was the biggest by a Bollywood release for the year-to-date.

Warner Bros’ ‘lost boys of Sudan’ drama The Good Lie starring Reese Witherspoon followed its recent Toronto world premiere with a number 13 debut on $935,000 from 461.

Sony’s The Equalizer fell a respectable 44% and dropped two places to number three in the second session on $19m for $64.5m, while Focus Features’ The Boxtrolls slipped a mere 21% and ranks fourth on $32.5m after the same amount of time.

Liam Neeson crime mystery A Walk Among The Tombstones ranks 11th on $24.5m after three weekends through Universal. Bloom oversees international distribution.

Overall box office for the top 12 amounted to $141.8m to improve on the previous weekend by approximately 44% and gain 19% on the comparable session in 2013, when Gravity opened top on $55.8m.

Paramount released Men, Women & Children, Jason Reitman’s latest feature that also premiered in Toronto. The film arrived on $48,000 from 17 sites.

China Lion scored the biggest North American opening weekend in its four-year history as local hit Breakup Buddies starring Xu Zheng and Huang Bo arrived on $240,000 from 20 theatres.

Tribeca Film Festival opener Nas: Time Is Illmatic debuted through Tribeca Film on $23,200 from two venues. Mathieu Amalric’s crime thriller The Blue Room arrived through IFC on $22,100 from three.

This week’s wide releases include: Universal’s Dracula Untold starring Luke Evans and Sarah Gadon from Irish first-time feature director Gary Shore; Warner Bros’ Toronto opener The Judge with Robert Duvall and Robert Downey Jr; family film Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day through Buena Vista starring Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner; and Lionsgate’s drama Addicted.

Estimated Top 10 North America Oct 3-5
Film (Dist) / Est wkd gross / Est total to date

1 (-) Gone Girl (Fox) Fox International $38m –

2 (-) Annabelle (Warner Bros-New Line) WBPI $37.2m –

3 (1) The Equalizer (Sony) SPRI $19m $64.5m

4 (3) The Boxtrolls (Focus Features-Laika) UPI $12.4m $32.5m

5 (2) The Maze Runner (Fox) Fox International $12m $73.9m

6 (-) Left Behind (Freestyle Releasing) Arclight Films $6.9m –

7 (4) This Is Where I Leave You (Warner Bros) WBPI $4m $29m

8 (5) Dolphin Tale 2 (Warner Bros) WBPI $3.5m $37.9m

9 (8) Guardians Of The Galaxy (Buena Vista/Marvel) WDSMPI $3m $323.4m

10 (5) No Good Deed (Screen Gems) SPRI $2.5m $50.2m