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Box office: ‘Annabelle’ edges out ‘Gone Girl’ on Friday

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“Annabelle,” the horror spinoff from last year’s hit “The Conjuring,” took in an estimated $15.5 million at the box office on Friday, edging out David Fincher’s highly anticipated “Gone Girl,” which did strong business with $13.2 million.

The two movies, both in their first weekend of release, are expected to have a close battle for the No. 1 domestic box-office spot, with some expecting “Annabelle” to maintain its lead. On Friday, “Gone Girl” saw a per-screen average gross of $4,380 across 3,014 screens, slightly lower than “Annabelle’s” per-screen tally of about $4,867.

“Gone Girl,” which is released by 20th Century Fox, is based on the bestselling Gillian Flynn novel about a man who becomes a suspect in the disappearance of his wife. Fincher’s movie, starring Ben Affleck, has received wide critical acclaim and is generating significant awards buzz.

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Rather less pedigreed, “Annabelle,” released by Warner Bros. from its New Line Cinema division, is a low-budget fright fest with no big stars. The movie, which cost an estimated $6.5 million to make, has received mediocre to negative reviews.

The strength of “Annabelle” should come as welcome news for Warner Bros., which has seen a number of high-profile flops this year.

“This is an important movie for Warner,” said Paul Dergarabedian of the box-office tracking firm Rentrak. He said that inexpensive titles like “Annabelle” typically make back their money in the first weekend of release, if not the first day, but usually see a box-office drop-off after that.

“It’s the kind of movie that does well on video on-demand. It will have a long life beyond the theatrical window.”

“The Equalizer,” starring Denzel Washington, grossed $5.6 million on Friday to take the No. 3 spot. The Columbia Pictures release has so far taken in approximately $51.1 million domestically since opening last weekend in the No. 1 spot.

Fox’s young-adult adaptation “The Maze Runner” took in an estimated $3.4 million on Friday to bring its domestic total to $65.4 million.

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Twitter: @DavidNgLAT

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