“Ouija” brought in $8.2 million on Friday and the spirits — and numbers — say the teen horror tale will win the pre-Halloween weekend box office with $20 million for Universal Pictures.
Keanu Reeves‘ “John Wick” took in a strong $5.4 million Friday to claim second place. That puts the well-reviewed R-rated assassin tale from Summit Entertainment on pace for a $14 million weekend — nearly double analysts’ projections and better than the opening weekend of his most recent film, last year’s big-budget bomb “47 Ronin.”
Brad Pitt‘s World War II saga “Fury,” last weekend’s No. 1 movie, was third Friday with $4.1 million and is on course for a $13.5 million second week.
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The Bill Murray-Melissa McCarthy comedy “St. Vincent” expanded from 64 to 2,284 theaters and brought in $2.5 million on Friday, putting it on track for a so-so $7.8 million weekend for Chernin Entertainment and the Weinstein Company. It was running fifth, behind Fox’s long-playing Ben Affleck murder mystery “Gone Girl,” which is heading for an $11 million fourth week that would up its domestic total to $125 million.
“Oujia” was in its early stage of the development process envisioned as a big-budget tentpole movie. But it was ultimately produced for less than $5 million by Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes and micro-budget king Jason Blum for Universal with Hasbro, maker of the toy board game the movie is based on.
The cast of the PG-13-rated thriller lacks A-listers, but features several young TV stars including Daren Kagasoff (“Secret Life of an American Teenager”), Bianca Santos (“The Fosters”), Douglas Smith (“Big Love”), Olivia Cooke (“Bates Motel”), along with Ana Coto. Stiles White (“The Possession”) directs, and co-wrote with Juliet Snowden.
Also read: How Universal Took ‘Ouija’ From Risky Blockbuster to Low-Budget Hit
Fox’s 3D animated tale “The Book of Life” was sixth with $2.4 million Friday, just behind “St. Vincent.” But the Guillermo del Toro-produced Day of the Dead romp could overtake it if families turn out on Saturday and Sunday.
Another family film, Disney’s “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” held well and was seventh with $2 million. The Steve Carell comedy is on its way to a $7 million third weekend.
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The Nicholas Sparks adaptation “The Best of Me,” Robert Downey Jr.’s courtroom drama “The Judge” and the monster reboot “Dracula Untold” rounded out the top ten.
The overall box office cooled down, but was still running about 15 percent of the same weekend last year, when “Jackass Presents Bad Grandpa” opened at No. 1 with $32 million.