In a tepid weekend for the box office, Brad Pitt’s World War II epic, Fury, claimed the top spot with $23.5 million, beating back Gone Girl, which brought in $17.8 million for a domestic total of $107 million. Other new releases also had lackluster performances, with the animated The Book of Life bringing in $17 million for third and the Nicholas Sparks adaptation The Best of Me barely coming in fifth with $10.2 million. Steve Carell’s family comedy, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, stuck around in fourth with $12 million.
More exciting were the films that opened in limited release: Michael Keaton’s meta-comeback film Birdman brought in more than $400,000 in just four theaters for the second highest per-screen average this year behind The Grand Budapest Hotel. Justin Simien’s buzzy debut film, Dear White People, also connected with audiences, earning $344,000 for a PSA of $31,273. Both films will expand their theater counts next week so that some people outside of New York and Los Angeles can watch them.