LOS ANGELES -- The new World War II film Fury battled to the top of the weekend box office, pulling in an estimated $24 million in the U.S. and Canadian theaters and pushing Gone Girl out of the No. 1 spot.
Strong reviews and word of mouth propelled Fury. As of Sunday, the film had notched an 80 percent positive rating on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes. It received an A-minus grade from audience polling firm CinemaScore.
About 60 percent of the audience was male, and about 51 percent was older than 35.
"It's a really good start for us," said Rory Bruer, distribution president of Columbia Pictures, which backed the movie with QED International and LStar Capital. "It's a film that's going to provoke discussion, and I think people who would maybe not be the first on the list to go see a movie about war will be really blown away by it."
The David Ayer-directed film follows Sgt. Don Collier (Brad Pitt), who leads a U.S. Army tank crew played by Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Pena and Jon Bernthal across Nazi Germany.
Columbia moved up the release date for the film, which was originally scheduled for Nov. 14, the weekend after Paramount's Interstellar and Disney's animated Big Hero 6 are set to open.
With its new release date, Fury topped George Clooney's World War II film The Monuments Men, which opened to $22.7 million in February. But Fury lagged behind Inglourious Basterds, another Pitt-starring war film, which opened to about $38 million in 2009.
"It's so important to have the emotion that goes with a war movie and the understanding that it's not just about the action," Bruer said. "There is a tremendous amount of action in Fury -- it's very visceral -- but on the other hand, it's absolutely about camaraderie and family."
Gone Girl stayed strong in second place. The David Fincher thriller added $17.5 million to its gross, raising its total in U.S. and Canadian theaters to about $107 million.
Based on the novel by Gillian Flynn, the Fox drama follows Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) after his wife (Rosamund Pike) disappears. It received a B grade from CinemaScore and an 88 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
"It's really become the water-cooler movie," said Chris Aronson, 20th Century Fox's head of domestic distribution.
Fox's new animated film, The Book of Life, opened to $17 million. The film, co-financed by 20th Century Fox and Reel FX at a cost of about $50 million to make, had been expected to make $15 million to $20 million opening weekend.
Written and directed by Jorge R. Gutierrez, the animated film follows Manolo on a quest through different worlds to rescue his true love and defend his village.
The PG-rated film is produced by Guillermo del Toro and voiced by a cast that includes Diego Luna, Zoe Saldana, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube and Christina Applegate.
The film drew a 57 percent female audience, and about 54 percent of moviegoers were younger than 25. The Book of Life resonated especially well with Hispanic filmgoers, who made up 30 percent of the audience.
In limited release, Fox Searchlight's Birdman soared, grossing about $424,000 in just four theaters. That per-location average of $106,099 was the second highest of the year, behind The Grand Budapest Hotel and ahead of Boyhood.
The critically acclaimed film follows a washed-up superhero actor (Michael Keaton) trying to get his mojo back with a Broadway play.
"We are truly amazed and gratified at the reception that Birdman has received so far," read a statement from Frank Rodriguez, Fox Searchlight's head of distribution. "And even though we knew people loved the film from its successful festival screenings, we still did not expect the picture to have the second-highest per-screen average."
The film will expand to 18 new markets today.
Dear White People, Justin Simien's satire about race relations, also did well in limited release. It grossed $344,136 from 11 theaters for a per-screen average of $31,285. As of Sunday, the film had notched a 97 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Another new release, the adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks book The Best of Me, didn't fare as well as previous Sparks movies. The film, starring James Marsden and Michelle Monaghan as high school sweethearts who reunite 20 years later, opened to about $10 million.
By comparison, Dear John starring Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried, opened in February 2010 to $32.4 million and displaced Avatar from the top of the charts.
The Best of Me, which cost about $26 million to make, notched a paltry 7 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes but did receive a B-plus grade from CinemaScore. It drew an audience that was about 70 percent female.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Rentrak, are:
Fury, Columbia, $23,702,421, 3,173 locations, $7,470 average, $23,702,421, 1 week.
Gone Girl, 20th Century Fox, $17,511,956, 3,249 locations, $5,390 average, $106,780,820, 3 weeks.
The Book of Life, 20th Century Fox, $17,005,218, 3,071 locations, $5,537 average, $17,005,218, 1 week.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Disney, $11,456,954, 3,088 locations, $3,710 average, $36,288,619, 2 weeks.
The Best of Me, Relativity Media, $10,003,827, 2,936 locations, $3,407 average, $10,003,827, 1 week.
Dracula Untold, Universal, $9,988,530, 2,900 locations, $3,444 average, $40,834,620, 2 weeks.
The Judge, Warner Bros., $7,916,418, 3,003 locations, $2,636 average, $26,819,761, 2 weeks.
Annabelle, Warner Bros., $7,878,300, 2,878 locations, $2,737 average, $74,080,010, 3 weeks.
The Equalizer, Columbia, $5,382,353, 2,262 locations, $2,379 average, $89,101,287, 4 weeks.
The Maze Runner, 20th Century Fox, $4,567,445, 2,155 locations, $2,119 average, $90,904,728, 5 weeks.
Addicted, Lionsgate, $3,472,423, 1,037 locations, $3,349 average, $12,842,877, 2 weeks.
The Boxtrolls, Focus Features, $2,700,343, 2,251 locations, $1,200 average, $46,085,766, 4 weeks.
Guardians of the Galaxy, Disney, $959,912, 730 locations, $1,315 average, $327,792,643, 12 weeks.
Left Behind, Freestyle Releasing, $922,618, 923 locations, $1,000 average, $12,849,835, 3 weeks.
St. Vincent, The Weinstein Co., $665,584, 68 locations, $9,788 average, $817,566, 2 weeks.
Meet the Mormons, Purdie Distribution, $568,409, 333 locations, $1,707 average, $4,520,644, 2 weeks.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Paramount, $525,534, 372 locations, $1,413 average, $189,588,745, 11 weeks.
This Is Where I Leave You, Warner Bros., $509,828, 502 locations, $1,016 average, $33,223,056, 5 weeks.
Kill the Messenger, Focus Features, $481,784, 427 locations, $1,128 average, $1,846,417, 2 weeks.
Birdman, Fox Searchlight, $424,397, 4 locations, $106,099 average, $424,397, 1 week.
MovieStyle on 10/24/2014