13 October 2014: A new Dracula origins story has failed to sink its teeth into Ben Affleck’s Gone Girl at the US box office.
Dracula Untold, starring Welsh actor Luke Evans, took $23.4 million (£14.5 million), less than Gone Girl’s second weekend haul of $26.8m (£16.6m).
Steve Carell’s family comedy Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, made its debut at three with $19.1m (£11.9m).
Horror film Annabelle claimed fourth place, with The Judge in fifth.
Starring Robert Downey Jr as a successful lawyer who has to defend his estranged father, a veteran judge played by Godfather actor Robert Duvall, it earned $13.3m (£8.2m) in its opening weekend.
Annabelle, starring Peaky Blinders actress Annabelle Wallis, tells of a couple who experience terrifying supernatural occurrences involving a vintage doll.
The film, a prequel to 2013 hit The Conjuring, spooked audiences into giving up $16.4m (£10.1m) in its second weekend on release.
A diversity of choices is resulting in robust post-summer ticket sales, according to Paul Dergarabedian of box-office tracker Rentrak.
“We’re making up a lot of ground after a summer season that was down 15 percent,” he explained.
Gone Girl stars Affleck as a writer who becomes a suspect when his wife, played by Rosamund Pike, goes missing.
Since opening the US last week, David Fincher’s adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s best-selling novel has earned $78.3m (£48.7m).
“To have an adult drama like this hold up so well for two weekends in a row is really unusual,” said Dergarabedian.
