Fall Box-Office Winners & Losers: 'Gone Girl' Amazes, While 'The Judge' Stumbles
Thanksgiving weekend officially kicks off the holiday season, which means that you can stamp a “The End” on what was a mediocre fall movie season.
Outside of this month’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1 and Big Hero 6 — both of which have each earned more than $130 million in the U.S. alone, according to Box Office Mojo— the fall’s biggest hit was David Fincher’s dark (and darkly comical) adaptation of the smash novel Gone Girl. Starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, the revenge mystery thriller has made $157 million in the U.S. and $328 million worldwide, making it the most successful flick of Fincher’s career.
Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar hasn’t quite lived up to expectations, with $120 million in the U.S. in three weeks, but its $450 million worldwide take is nothing to sneeze at. Even more impressive is the tiny Conjuring spinoff, Anabelle, which soared past expectations with $84 million in the U.S. and $250 million worldwide — and all on just a $5.4 million budget.
Kudos are also due for The Maze Runner, which launched a new YA franchise on the strength of a $333 million worldwide haul — an impressive return, given its $34 million budget.
As for the biggest losers, it was a rare rough moment for Robert Downey Jr. when his drama The Judge was found guilty of being long and boring by critics and audiences alike. Iron Man showed some rust in his non-superhero movies, with the flick making just $45 million on a $50 million budget. Also flopping was the vampire reboot Dracula Untold, which died pretty early in the U.S., making just $55 million (its international pull brought it up to $212 million overall on a $70 million budget, however, saving it from unspeakable embarrassment).
Special mention goes to the William H. Macy movie Two-Bit Waltz, which made just $520 in its 17 days on the big screen — though, to be fair, it was only playing in one theater and is mostly a VOD movie.
