'Gone Girl' Leads Record-Setting October
After a slow September, the domestic box office bounced back in a big way in October.
Overall business totaled $755 million, which is up a whopping 20 percent from last October. It's also a new October record ahead of 2009's $693 million haul.
Gone Girl led the way this month with $129.6 million. After opening to an impressive $37.5 million, the movie has held incredible well—it hasn't dropped more than 37 percent in a single weekend.
By the end of the month, Gone Girl was director David Fincher's highest-grossing movie ever at the domestic box office. Ultimately, it should end its run with at least $155 million.
Annabelle opened on the same date and at virtually the same level as Gone Girl, but didn't hold up as well through the month. Still, it wrapped up October with a very good $81.2 million, and will pass Insidious Chapter 2's $83.6 million in early November.
While Gone Girl and Annabelle were the top performers, the big year-over-year increase can be chalked up to strong numbers in the middle. Seven titles earned between $30 and $55 million in October; in comparison, only one movie wound up in that range last year (Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa).
September holdover The Equalizer ranked third in October with $54.3 million; it should eventually sneak past the $100 million mark. Fury wasn't far behind with $53.3 million; the Brad Pitt World War II movie is on track to end up at essentially the same level as February's The Monuments Men ($78 million).
Dracula Untold rounded out the Top Five with $50.7 million. The movie has been a solid international performer, and is likely on the edge of earning enough to start a modest franchise.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day earned $48.1 million through 22 days, while The Book of Life grossed $33.3 million through 15 days. Ouija and John Wick each did decent business late in the month: Ouija is on track to earn nearly $50 million total, while John Wick should eventually reach $40 million.
Robert Downey Jr.'s The Judge earned $37 million through 22 days. That's not a great number, though it's not a huge miss, either: the movie will eventually crawl past $45 million.
One of October's only serious disappointments was The Best of Me, which ended the month with a paltry $19.7 million. It's likely going to end up below $30 million, which will make it the lowest-grossing Nicolas Sparks movie by a wide margin.
Of course, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention Jason Reitman's Men, Women & Children, which began and ended its run within the month. The movie had one of the worst nationwide debuts ever, and wrapped up on October 30th with less than $800,000.
Through the end of October, year-to-date box office is down 3.7 percent to $8.48 billion. It remains unlikely that 2014 will set a new yearly record, though it is a safe bet that the year at least wraps up over $10.5 billion.
Discuss this story with fellow Box Office Mojo fans on Facebook. On Twitter, follow us at @boxofficemojo, and follow author Ray Subers at @raysubers.
Related Stories
• September 2014 Box Office is Lowest in Six Years
• 'Guardians,' 'Turtles' Lead August to Record $1 Billion Haul
• July Box Office Falls Short of $1 Billion
• June Box Office Down 16 Percent From Last Year's Record
• May Box Office Hits Lowest Level Since 2010
• 'Captain America' Dominates Strong April at the Box Office
• March Reaches $800 Million, Fall Short of 2012 Record
• 'LEGO' Leads Not-So-Awesome February
• 'Lone Survivor' Leads Best January in Four Years
• Strong November Box Office Falls Just Short of Record
• Holiday 2013 Forecast
• 'Gravity' Dominates Disappointing October
Related Charts
• October Calendar Grosses
• 2014 Grosses (2014-only releases)
• Year-to-Date Comparison
Overall business totaled $755 million, which is up a whopping 20 percent from last October. It's also a new October record ahead of 2009's $693 million haul.
Gone Girl led the way this month with $129.6 million. After opening to an impressive $37.5 million, the movie has held incredible well—it hasn't dropped more than 37 percent in a single weekend.
By the end of the month, Gone Girl was director David Fincher's highest-grossing movie ever at the domestic box office. Ultimately, it should end its run with at least $155 million.
Annabelle opened on the same date and at virtually the same level as Gone Girl, but didn't hold up as well through the month. Still, it wrapped up October with a very good $81.2 million, and will pass Insidious Chapter 2's $83.6 million in early November.
While Gone Girl and Annabelle were the top performers, the big year-over-year increase can be chalked up to strong numbers in the middle. Seven titles earned between $30 and $55 million in October; in comparison, only one movie wound up in that range last year (Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa).
September holdover The Equalizer ranked third in October with $54.3 million; it should eventually sneak past the $100 million mark. Fury wasn't far behind with $53.3 million; the Brad Pitt World War II movie is on track to end up at essentially the same level as February's The Monuments Men ($78 million).
Dracula Untold rounded out the Top Five with $50.7 million. The movie has been a solid international performer, and is likely on the edge of earning enough to start a modest franchise.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day earned $48.1 million through 22 days, while The Book of Life grossed $33.3 million through 15 days. Ouija and John Wick each did decent business late in the month: Ouija is on track to earn nearly $50 million total, while John Wick should eventually reach $40 million.
Robert Downey Jr.'s The Judge earned $37 million through 22 days. That's not a great number, though it's not a huge miss, either: the movie will eventually crawl past $45 million.
One of October's only serious disappointments was The Best of Me, which ended the month with a paltry $19.7 million. It's likely going to end up below $30 million, which will make it the lowest-grossing Nicolas Sparks movie by a wide margin.
Of course, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention Jason Reitman's Men, Women & Children, which began and ended its run within the month. The movie had one of the worst nationwide debuts ever, and wrapped up on October 30th with less than $800,000.
Through the end of October, year-to-date box office is down 3.7 percent to $8.48 billion. It remains unlikely that 2014 will set a new yearly record, though it is a safe bet that the year at least wraps up over $10.5 billion.
Discuss this story with fellow Box Office Mojo fans on Facebook. On Twitter, follow us at @boxofficemojo, and follow author Ray Subers at @raysubers.
Related Stories
• September 2014 Box Office is Lowest in Six Years
• 'Guardians,' 'Turtles' Lead August to Record $1 Billion Haul
• July Box Office Falls Short of $1 Billion
• June Box Office Down 16 Percent From Last Year's Record
• May Box Office Hits Lowest Level Since 2010
• 'Captain America' Dominates Strong April at the Box Office
• March Reaches $800 Million, Fall Short of 2012 Record
• 'LEGO' Leads Not-So-Awesome February
• 'Lone Survivor' Leads Best January in Four Years
• Strong November Box Office Falls Just Short of Record
• Holiday 2013 Forecast
• 'Gravity' Dominates Disappointing October
Related Charts
• October Calendar Grosses
• 2014 Grosses (2014-only releases)
• Year-to-Date Comparison
