Fourth place was occupied by new film Beyond the Lights, a romantic drama starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw as an upcoming pop star who falls in love with a police officer played by Nate Parker after she attempts suicide.

The drama, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, took $6.5 million in its opening weekend.

Fifth place went to Gone Girl, David Fincher's thriller starring Ben Affleck as a husband suspected of murdering his wife. The movie, based on Gillian Flynn's best-selling 2012 novel, took $4.6 million.

St Vincent, a comedy starring Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy and Naomi Watts, earned $4 million at sixth place.

Brad Pitt's World War II tank battalion drama Fury was seventh with $3.8 million, just ahead of Nightcrawler, the Los Angeles thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal as an unscrupulous video journalist who makes a living by serving up gory footage of crime scenes to local television stations. The film took $3.03 million.

Ninth place was taken by horror movie Ouija, with $3.02 million, for fourth place.

Rounding out the top 10 was Birdman, the comedy drama starring Michael Keaton as a washed up Hollywood superhero movie star attempting to resurrect his career on Broadway. The film by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu took $2.4 million.

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