A similar dynamic played out in the kids’-movie world as Guillermo Del Toro-produced newcomer The Book Of Life took the No. 3 spot, knocking Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day down to No. 4. The Book Of Life pulled in $17 million, on par with The Boxtrolls’ $17.3 million debut last month, both impressive showings for animated films released without the support of the Disney/Pixar hype machine. But despite its title, Alexander is doing fine, having pulled in $36 million on a $28 million budget before the movie hits the “Mommy really needs 90 minutes of quiet” home-video stage.
Speaking of bad days, Annabelle dropped from No. 4 to No. 8 this weekend, a dramatic 50 percent decline—but considering the movie has already made $74 million on a $5 million budget, James Wan and company can afford to step back and let another horror movie have a little bit of fun. However, that other horror movie was the dreary Dracula Untold, which dropped from No. 2 to No. 6 as moviegoers donned wreaths of garlic and threw holy water at the idea of Dracula as Batman-esque dark guardian. $9.8 million is the box office Universal deserves, if not the box office it needs right now.
Finally, the romance appears to be over as The Best Of Me opened to $10.2 million, the worst opening weekend ever for a Nicholas Sparks movie. Sparks wrote America 365 letters, one for every day of the year, but America couldn’t wait forever. Now Sparks will have to win America back via a soft-focus montage involving a tire swing and kissing in the rain, before they die together in a canoeing accident or whatever.
