FIVE NEW FILMS ARE TOPS AT BOX OFFICE

Last weekend’s total box office was up 28 percent from the comparable weekend a year ago, even though this year’s No. 1 film, the second week of Gone Girl, sold 40 percent fewer tickets than last year’s top film, the second week of Gravity. The difference was that last year’s results were heavily weighted among the top three films, while a slew of new films this year resulted in a more evenly distribution of receipts. Indeed, of the top ten this weekend, half were newcomers, including the No. 2 film, Dracula Untold, which earned $23.5 million, according to final figures, just 11 percent less than the $26.4 million collected for Gone Girl. In third place, another newcomer, the Disney family film Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, brought in $18.4 million. Even the tenth-ranked film this weekend, the religious documentary Meet the Mormons, with $3.4 million, earned nearly as much as the fourth-ranked film last year, Machete Kills, with $3.8 million. The results did little to affect overall box office results for the year — there are, after all, only ten weeks remaining in 2014 — with total revenue standing at $7.99 billion, down 4.9 percent from last year’s $8.40 billion at this time, while attendance is down 5.1 percent.