'Ouija' & 'Nightcrawler' Tied At The Box Office

Whether Paranormal Activity, Insidious, or some other scary film out on DVD or at the cinema, one of my favorite things to do on Halloween is snuggle up in a blanket with my girlfriends and watch the most horrifying movie sure to give me nightmares. Although that’s a bit counterproductive considering I’m a huge chicken, there’s something about giving myself an adrenaline rush on the spookiest night of the year that makes everything feel complete. And after Ouija and Nightcrawler tied this weekend at the box office , it’s clear that I’m not the only one in North America who loves a good scare on Halloweekend.

Although Ouija opened in theaters on Oct. 24, an entire week before Jake Gyllenhaal’s indie thriller Nightcrawler, it turns out that the film has continued to be pretty successful, providing some stiff competition. Ouija received approximately $10.9 million this weekend, bringing its total to $35 million, according to the Hollywood Reporter, while Nightcrawler also took in $10.9 million. This was unusual since many seemed to believe Nightcrawler would top its competitor.

Even more shocking to those in the industry however, was the fact that Lionsgate only drew in $650,000 for its 10th anniversary re-release of Saw on Friday, though it was expected to make $2-3 million in ticket sales. Personally however, I’m not sure why that was so surprising because I’d rather not watch Saw again in the first place, and I’m assuming most people would just prefer to see it at home instead of paying for it again in theaters. But to each his own.

Amongst the other box office films this weekend, Before I Go to Sleep, starring Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth, plunged with an estimated $2 million opening. The film only scored 37 percent with the critics and a 54 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. So maybe it was bad timing — after all, most people go out on Halloween, and this was the first time in six years it landed on a Friday — but based on the reviews, it was probably just a bad movie (though Kidman and Firth are usually fantastic).

Beyond this flop however, Fury took the next box office spot after Ouija and Nightcrawler with $9.1 million in sales this weekend while Gone Girl continued its screenings with $8.8 million and The Book of Life came in with $8.3 million.

Image: Universal Pictures/IMDb