(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.)
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The dark drama "Gone Girl" opened at No. 1
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Horror prequel "Annabelle" came in at a close second
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"Guardians of the Galaxy" is still holding on in the top 10
Though most horror films have suffered at the box office this year, new release "@placeholder" bucked the trend.