As the box office fall quarter officially begins, two studio releases are already off to a strong start. The numbers from Thursday night early releases are in and "The Conjuring" spin off horror film "Annabelle" came out on top with $2.1 million in gross, and Ben Affleck in "Gone Girl" drew a solid $1.25 million. This is slightly off from predictions that "Gone Girl" would be number one in the box office this weekend, but some analysts say "Gone Girl" is on the same track as the "Gravity" $55 million opening.

James Wan and John Leonetti (not taking their director and DP roles this time around) recently spoke to Hitfix about their horror film "Annabelle."

"I don't know if people know the difference between psychological ventriloquist puppet, right, ventriloquism, and killer doll films, right? I'm a big fan of 'Child's Play,' I love Chucky, but I don't think 'Annabelle' lives in that world," said Wan.

Perhaps Wan's worries that people would not understand this subtle difference were confirmed based on the current 38% that the film has on Rotten Tomatoes, but at least the first time director Leonetti and the studio can be happy that "Annabelle" opened number one Thursday night. According to Variety, the film grossed $2.1 million, which is just shy of "The Conjuring's" $3.4 million opening last year.

"Annabelle" was originally predicted by Box Office Pro to open number two this weekend behind Ben Affleck in "Gone Girl," which grossed $1.25 million. There are still three whole days of box office numbers to confirm or disprove that prediction, but Box Office Mojo reports (via Fandango) that "Gone Girl" sales are on the same track to $50 million that "Gravity" made last year. This means David Fincher and novel/screenwriter Gillian Flynn may be expecting not only Oscar nominations but also a huge paycheck depending on their contracts.

All in all, there won't be any certainty as to how "Annabelle" and "Gone Girl" will fair this weekend until Sunday. The only thing that is certain however is that neither film will get the teen audience, as both films are Rated R.