newsmakers

newsmakers

‘Girl’ nabs No. 1 at box office from ‘Annabelle’

LOS ANGELES

“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 $38 million debut, according to studio estimates Sunday.

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

“Annabelle” debuted closely behind “Gone Girl” with $37.2 million. The movie stars Ward Horton and Annabelle Wallis as new parents who bring the creepy porcelain plaything seen in last year’s haunted house horror “The Conjuring” into their home.

Sony’s “The Equalizer,” last week’s top performer, came in third place in its second weekend with $19 million, bringing its total domestic haul to $64.5 million.

“Left Behind,” the weekend’s other big debut, opened in sixth place with $6.8 million. The Rapture-set film starring Nicholas Cage is based on the novel of the same name.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak. Where available, the latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released today.

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

Raiders rock band’s Paul Revere dies at 76

LOS ANGELES

Paul Revere, the organist and leader of the Raiders rock band, has died. He was 76.

Roger Hart, manager for Paul Revere and the Raiders, said he died Saturday at his home in Garden Valley, Idaho, from cancer. Revere was born in Harvard, Neb., Hart said.

“He’d been quiet about it for some time,” Hart said. “Treated at the Mayo Clinic, Paul stayed on the road as long as he could, then retired recently back to Idaho, where he and his wife, Sydney, always kept a home.”

Revere, born Paul Revere Dick, became known as “the madman of rock and roll” for his theatrical colonial wardrobe and infectious onstage persona with the band.

“From Day 1, we’ve always been a party band that accidentally had some hit records and accidently got on a hit television series,” Revere told The Associated Press in a 2000 interview.

The group became popular in 1963 with its rendition of Richard Berry’s “Louie, Louie” before releasing its own hits, such as “Kicks,” “Hungry” and “Good Thing.” The band’s biggest smash came in 1971 with “Indian Reservation.”

Paul Revere and the Raiders served as the house band for the Dick Clark TV show “Where the Action Is” and made an appearance as themselves in the “Batman” TV series starring Adam West.

Associated Press