"Ouija" horror beats Keanu Reeves’ "John Wick" to top box office

PanARMENIAN.Net - Two new entries dominated the domestic box office this weekend with "Ouija" coming in at number 1. The microbudget horror flick made an estimated $20 million on its debut weekend despite scoring C on CinemaScore, showing how the Halloween fever has caught moviegoers a week early, according to AceShowbiz.

"Ouija had two things going for it. We're in full Halloween mode, so the timing was obviously perfect," said Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Rentrak. "On top of that was the brand name 'Ouija'. There is a real horror mystique around that name. There was great marketing around that."

Made on a $5 million budget, "Ouija" is already a winner for Universal and Blumhouse. "We saw how this film worked with its target audience," Universal's President of Domestic Distribution Nikki Rocco told EW. "We watched the tracking for the last three weeks, and there is something to be said for making these microbudget films and making them really, really work. The PG-13 was so smart. It works. PG-13 works. And here are the results."

At the runner-up position was "John Wick" which made approximately $14.2 million, $2.5 million of which was from 347 IMAX screens. "More than box office results, Keanu Reeves is being talked about in his return," said Dergarabedian. "And that's money in the bank." The actor came back from the big failure of "47 Ronin" which opened to only $9.9 million over $175 million budget.

"Fury" slipped from the first place to third, adding an estimated $13 million on its second weekend. "Gone Girl" is at the fourth place with approximately $11.1 million, followed by "The Book of Life" with approximately $9.8 million.