Battle at the Box Office 10/7

With amazing looking visuals and equally amazing reviews (including ours), Gravity easily took the top spot at the box office this weekend with $55.6 million, a new all time October record and doing especially well in IMAX and 3D.  It’s also the highest openings ever for both Sandra Bullock and George Clooney.  Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 dropped to $21.5 million and second place while the other big new release, Runner Runner, sputtered out in third place with only $7.6 million, despite the combined star power of Justin Timberlake and Ben Affleck.  Most analysts think it’s because Runner Runner targeted the same audience as Gravity and most people chose to watch the breathtaking space adventure instead of the generic looking poker thriller.  Prisoners and Rush rounded out the top 5.  Down toward the bottom of the top 10 were some indie movies that expanded with Pulling Strings, a Hispanic targeted romantic comedy, made $2.5 million in 387 theaters while Enough Said, which stars the late James Gandolfini and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, came in 10th place with $2.1 million in 437 theaters.  Gravity should be able to hold onto the top spot, although the same audience may move over to Captain Phillips.