Friday Report: 'Ouija' Scares Off 'Nightcrawler' on Halloween
Distracted by trick-or-treating and other assorted Halloween celebrations, moviegoers largely stayed away from theaters on Friday.

Supernatural horror movie Ouija held on to first place ahead of Nightcrawler, though those positions will likely switch by the end of the weekend.

Meanwhile, Before I Go To Sleep and Saw 10th Anniversary both bombed outside the Top 10.

Ouija added $3.5 million on Friday, which was off 58 percent from its opening day. That's a surprising strong hold: the last time Halloween fell on a Friday, Saw V dropped 78 percent.

Horror movies tend to play well on Halloween, so Ouija isn't going to hold up as well as the rest of the field through the weekend. Look for a three-day tally in the $10-to-$11 million range.

Playing at 2,766 theaters, Nightcrawler opened to a solid $3.2 million on Friday. That's not on par with End of Watch ($4.6 million) or Drive (2011) ($4 million), though neither of those were competing with Halloween. For the weekend, Nightcrawler will likely wind up with $13 to $14 million (ahead of Drive and close to End of Watch).

Fury fell 52 percent to $1.95 million. It has so far earned $53.3 million, and is still running neck-and-neck with The Monuments Men.

In fourth place, John Wick plummeted 67 percent to $1.83 million. For the weekend, look for it to take in around $8 million.

Gone Girl rounded out the Top Five with $1.8 million. Through the end of October, the David Fincher thriller has earned an impressive $129.6 million.

Playing at 1,902 theaters, Before I Go to Sleep tanked with $575,000 on Friday. For the weekend, the psychological thriller should wind up with around $2 million.

Before I Go to Sleep looks like a hit when compared with the Saw 10th Anniversary re-release. At 2,063 theaters, the horror movie earned a paltry $320,000 on Halloween. Look for it to fall off quickly through the weekend; it's a safe bet that this finishes the three-day frame with less than $1 million.

Weekend Projections

1. Nightcrawler - $13.5 million

2. Ouija - $10.5 million

3. Fury - $8.5 million

4. John Wick - $8.2 million

5. Gone Girl - $8 million

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Grosses for Friday, October 31, 2014

• 2014 Domestic Box Office