LOS ANGELES, USA (AP) — Annabelle couldn’t scare off Gone Girl at the weekend box office.

The Fox thriller starring Ben Affleck as a man whose wife goes missing overcame the Warner Bros possessed doll horror with a

US$38 million debut, according to studio estimates yesterday.

Both films join the recently released The Maze Runner and The Equalizer in crossing the US$30 million mark this fall, a typically low-earning season at the box office.

“It was virtually a photo finish,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box-office tracker Rentrak. “These two movies couldn’t be more different. It shows how if the marketplace presents a diversity of product, audiences will come out. It’s the third and fourth US$30-million debut of the past two weeks. It’s been a great post-summer run.”

Gone Girl is based on the best-selling novel by Gillian Flynn and was directed by The Social Network and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button filmmaker David Fincher.

“I think David Fincher made a very provocative, thought-provoking film,” said Chris Aronson, head of distribution for Fox. “I think there was this crescendo of publicity and social media chatter that made Gone Girl into a zeitgeisty movie that you have to see to be part of the conversation.”