( CNN ) -- With all that 's happening in the news , you might think moviegoers would skip over danger and depression in favor of something funny and light . You 'd be wrong . `` Gone Girl , '' the dark drama about a disappearance that reveals a dysfunctional marriage , won fall 's first big box office battle over the weekend , holding off a stronger-than-expected challenge from the horror prequel `` Annabelle . '' Directed by David Fincher and starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike , `` Gone Girl '' features murder , infidelity , psychosis , deception and tabloid TV . ( Before you start yelling `` spoilers ! '' remember that most reviews of the film came out more than a week ago , and Gillian Flynn 's best-selling novel has been on shelves for two years . ) Earning $ 38 million , `` Gone Girl '' is director Fincher 's biggest debut ever , easily surpassing the $ 30 million `` Panic Room '' opened with in 2002 . Though most horror films have suffered at the box office this year , new release `` Annabelle '' bucked the trend . With an opening weekend bow of $ 37.2 million , the movie quintupled its $ 6.5 million budget and nearly knocked the higher-profile `` Gone Girl '' out of top spot . The fright flick is a prequel to last year 's `` The Conjuring , '' so that connection may have helped -- and if there 's a month when horror movies figure to score , it 's October . The weekend 's other major release , `` Left Behind , '' was even darker in tone , depicting a world literally gone to hell after the Rapture . Nicolas Cage assumes the Kirk Cameron role in the latest big-screen take on the postapocalyptic Christian novels . Critics savaged the thriller , but enough moviegoers turned out to give it a decent debut of $ 6.9 million , finishing just outside the top five . There was some laughter , light and heroism to be found at theaters as `` The Boxtrolls , '' `` Dolphin Tale 2 '' and the Energizer bunny of 2014 movies , `` Guardians of the Galaxy , '' held strongest at the box office . Marvel 's `` Guardians '' spent its 10th straight weekend in the top 10 , increasing its total domestic box office take to $ 323 million . If twisted relationships , possessed dolls and the end of the world are n't your cup of cinematic tea , it 's reassuring to know a talking tree named Groot will still be around for a while . Domestic weekend box office estimates from Exhibitor Relations Co. ( final numbers available Monday afternoon ) : . 1 . `` Gone Girl , '' $ 38 million . 2 . `` Annabelle , '' $ 37.2 million . 3 . `` The Equalizer , '' $ 19 million . 4 . `` The Boxtrolls , '' $ 12.4 million . 5 . `` The Maze Runner , '' $ 12 million .
The dark comedy ` ` Dead Girl '' debuted at No . 1 . Horror prequel ` ` ' '' came in at a close second . ` ` Guardians of the Galaxy '' is still holding on in the top 10 .