Gone Girl has the stars, Oscar buzz, a marquee director and what seems like an endless red carpet leading to nonstop talk show adulation.

But Hollywood's a funny place, and even with all of that, the 'little' horror movie Annabelle inched ahead of the Ben Affleck-Rosamund Pike drama at the opening day box office, and raked in over $2million more.

Gone Girl will no doubt eventually break away, however, as adult dramas with strong reviews hold much better than genre movies targeted to one specific kind of moviegoer.

Scroll down for video

Opening night: Gone Girl looks to keep its momentum going through the fall movie season

Scary opening: Annabelle is a horror move spinoff of The Conjuring and has done great business over the weekend

Still, it's amazing that a little movie with limited audience, no wide marketing and no marquee actors can even compete with, let alone match, a studio movie that has all the components of a long-haul fall smash.

The early take was strong for both. Gone Girl, directed by David Fincher, earned $13.2 million on opening day, putting it on track for a $36 million weekend opening.

Besides the early burst, reviews have been strong, and buzz has been non-stop - from the late-night circuit to a star-studded red carpet premiere at the New York film festival.

Marketing push: Rosamund Pike and Ben Affleck attended the Gone Girl premiere in New York last month

Star power: Affleck made fans very happy in advance of Gone Girl's festival premiere

But not to be muscled around, Annabelle, which is a spinoff of popular film The Conjuring, took in close to $15.5 million, making its Friday an unqualified smash success

Anyone who knows horror know this isn't a complete surprise: The Conjuring opened with a gigantic $41 million last year.

Whatever happens to Annabelle's drop-off, it has easily already made it's very modest production cost back.

Box office battle: Annabelle will likely flame out after a strong opening weekend, as most horror films do

Long haul: Gone Girl has Oscar on its mind, as its strong reviews are indicative of a successful awards run

Gone Girl cost around $65 million to make, while Annabelle only cost about $7 million.

Following up behind Annabelle and Gone Girl were films that were not new releases, with the third spot going to The Equalizer, which took $5.6million.