Latin Americans excelled at the box office this weekend, with "Fury" winning the overall marketplace and "The Book of Life" over performing.

"Fury," the Brad Pitt release, made an estimated $23.5 million in 3,173 theaters. The Sony film, also starring Michael Pena, Logan Lerman and Shia LeBeouf, obtained good reviews and received a strong marketing campaign. The film was budgeted at $68 million and became the fourth R-rated release to top the box office. It also became Pitt's 11th-highest opener and director David Ayer's best opening ever. Serious dramas continue to excel at the box office and, with strong word-of-mouth and awards buzz, "Fury" is likely to end its run north of $100 million.

In second place, Ben Affleck's "Gone Girl" continued to soar making another $17.8 million. To this date, the feature has grossed $107 million and is on track to become director David Fincher's highest grosser ever. Great reviews and awards buzz will definitely allow the thriller to continue its strong run and the movie could potentially end with up to $150 million.

In third place, "The Book of Life" debuted to $17 million, which was on par with "The Boxtrolls." The animated feature was targeted at a Latin American audience and also had many Mexican themes, as well as Latin American actors. The film also appealed to children and was a released a month after "The Boxtrolls." With no noticeable new animated films in the market, this helped obtain buzz. It also helped that the movie has to do with Halloween, which only two weeks away, and that reviews were strong. With no new animated films coming out in the next few weeks, this film could possibly end its run with up to $75 million.

In its second weekend, "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" added another $12 million to its total and brought it to $36 million. Considering its modest budget and its disappointing opening, Disney's family film is performing well. Expect the Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner starrer to end its run with at least $60 million.

In fifth place, "The Best of Me" debuted to $10.2 million. Based on the Nicolas Sparks novel of the same name, this was the worst opening for a film based on the author's popular novels. The reason for the lackluster opening was due in part because actors James Marsden and Michelle Monaghan lack the star power of such actors like Channing Tatum, Ryan Gosling, or even Zac Efron. Reviews were also negative and marketing was also poor.

In their second weekend, "Dracula Untold" made an estimated $9.8 million while "The Judge" grossed $7.9 million. "Dracula" has made $50 million in two weeks while "The Judge" has only accumulated a disappointing $26.8 million.

In eighth place, "Annabelle" continued to perform better than expected as it made $7 million. To date, it has made $74 million and while it faces competition with next weekend's horror flick "Ouija," the Halloween season should give it a boost.

In arthouse cinemas, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "Birdman" led the way with $415,000 in four theaters. That is equivalent to $103,000 per theater average. It now ranks as the second-best opening of the year behind "The Grand Budapest Hotel" and as the 19th-best per-theater average of all time. Fox Searchlight has been building hype through the festival circuit as it premiered at the Venice, New York and Telluride Film Festivals. Great reviews and awards buzz helped the film's strong performance. The studio is planning on expanding "Birdman" in the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, "Dear White People" opened to an outstanding $344,000 in 11 theaters. The comedy obtained rave reviews and also won an award at the Sundance Film Festival. Roadside Attractions hopes to build buzz and expand it in the next weeks.

In its third weekend, Paramount decided to expand "Men Women, and Children" into 608 theaters. However, the film by Jason Reitman only garnered a disastrous $320,000 or $526 per theater average. The opening broke records as it became the fifth-worst per-theater average for a wide release of all time. Having only made $475,000 in three weeks, expect the drama to end with less than $1 million. That would make it Reitman's worst grossing film, but also one of Paramount's biggest disappointment in many years.

Reitman, however, succeeded with a film he produced -- "Whiplash." The music drama expanded into 21 theaters and made an estimated $211,000. The Sony Pictures Classics release has made $416,000 in two weeks and is expected to expand next week.

Meanwhile, Tribeca Films released "Listen Up Philip" to exceptional results, as it made $4,300 in two theaters. That is equivalent to $12,150 per theaters. The movie goes on demand on Tuesday and could potentially damage the theatrical success.  

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