Gone Girl' bolts to top of box office

Gone Girl has found itself atop the weekend box office.

The psychological thriller made off with $38 million,according to studio estimates from box-office tracking firm Rentrak, narrowly beating horror newcomer Annabelle as the fall movie season gets off to a robust start.

Based on the best-selling book by Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl stars Ben Affleck as a man whose wife (Rosamund Pike) goes missing on their fifth anniversary, turning him into a possible murder suspect. The R-rated film's audience skewed 60% female and 40% male, with 75% of the audience over age 25, according to Rentrak and exit-polling service PostTrak.

The toxic-marriage drama scored well with critics, who awarded it an 87% positive rating on RottenTomatoes.com. USA TODAY's Claudia Puig gave it four out of four stars, calling it a "top-notch film adaptation ... (that) will leave you breathless and haunted."

USA Today Movie Critic Claudia Puig discusses "Gone Girl" and tells you whether to "Catch It," "Rent It," or "Skip It" in this week's edition of The Screening Room.

Underserved adult audiences embraced the darkly comic film even more so, giving it a 92% approval rating on the survey site.

"The summer is all about the big blockbusters chasing the young audience," says Rentrak's Paul Dergarabedian. "People know when you go to see this movie, you're going to see something of quality. This is the kind of film that has long-term playability."

New movie ‘Gone Girl’ explores a theme that became a hot topic in writer Gillian Flynn's bestselling book: The unrealistically perfect “Cool Girl.” USA TODAY’s Donna Freydkin tells Carly Mallenbaum about what it means to be this "Cool Girl."

It was a career-best opening for director David Fincher, surpassing the $30 million bow of 2002's Panic Room, according to Box Office Mojo. Although adult dramas tend to have modest debuts, the prolific director's films have demonstrated immense staying power: The Social Network opened with $22.5 million in 2010 on its way to $97 million, while his last foray into popular literature, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, inked a $12.8 million start in 2011, earning $103 million total.

Girl also marked Affleck's highest debut since superhero misfire Daredevil opened to $40 million in 2003, tallying $102 million. His biggest success since has been his own Oscar-winning Argo, which launched with $19.5 million in 2012, netting $136 million.

Trailing Girl by a hair is Annabelle, which landed at No. 2 with $37.2 million. A prequel to last summer's scary success The Conjuring, the fright film about a haunted doll starsAnnabelle Wallis and Alfre Woodard and has skewed toward younger viewers. Fifty-nine percent of the audience was under 25, with 55% of the audience female and 45% male, PostTrak says.

Although its reception is nothing to scream about — 31% positive critical reviews and 54% audience approval on Rotten Tomatoes — Annabelle handily recouped its lean $6.5 million budget, which bodes well for future Conjuring spinoffs.

"The Conjuring was very successful, so it just speaks to the strength of the brand that they're building," says Phil Contrino, analyst for BoxOffice.com. "Gone Girl will hold up better, because horror movies tend to be front-loaded, but it was absolutely a great start for both."

USA Today Movie Critic Claudia Puig discusses "Annabelle" and tells you whether to "Catch It," "Rent It," or "Skip It" in this week's edition of The Screening Room.

As for the other new releases, Rapture movie Left Behind, starring Nicolas Cage, managed $6.9 million in just over 1,800 theaters for sixth place — a respectable tally, given its 2% critical rating on RottenTomatoes.com. And with a 61% audience approval rating, the apocalyptic flick could earn back its $16 million budget.

USATODAY

This 'Left Behind' doesn't have a prayer

Last week's box-office champ The Equalizer, starring Denzel Washington, fell to third with $19 million, while animated feature The Boxtrolls took fourth with $12.4 million, dipping only 28% in its second week. Young-adult adaptation The Maze Runner came in fifth with $12 million, racing to $74 million total.

In 17 theaters, Internet panic drama Men, Women & Children struggled to connect.Jason Reitman's follow-up to critical and commercial clunker Labor Day earned just $48,000 — perhaps unsurprising given its beatdown from critics (a 33% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes). It has earned $61,000 since opening Wednesday.

Fellow awards hopeful The Good Lie, about Sudanese refugees and starring Reese Witherspoon, also stumbled in 461 theaters, earning $935,000. But The Skeleton Twins, led by Saturday Night Live alums Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader, continued to soar in limited release, adding $734,000 in 461 theaters for a grand total of $3.5 million in four weeks.

Final figures are expected Monday.