( CNN ) -- Warner Bros. ' $ 100 million Alfonso Cuarón-directed thriller Gravity blasted off on its opening weekend at the box office , scoring a stunning $ 55.6 million from 3,575 theaters . The sci-fi title , which stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney , set a new October opening weekend record , surpassing Paranormal Activity 3 's $ 52.6 million debut in 2011 . Gravity also marks the best-ever debut for both of its stars , beating Bullock 's $ 39.1 million start for this summer 's The Heat ( talk about having a great year at the box office ! ) and Clooney 's $ 42.9 million debut for Batman & Robin in 1997 . And to put a cherry on top of Warner Bros. ' incredible weekend , audiences issued Gravity an excellent `` A- '' CinemaScore grade , which will yield great word-of-mouth for weeks to come . The film played to a much broader audience than most young-male-dominated sci-fi films . Crowds were 54 percent male and 46 percent female , and 59 percent were above the age of 35 . 3-D showings accounted for a whopping 80 percent of the film 's weekend gross ( bucking the downward trend 3-D has faced this year and proving that audiences will pay for the format if they feel it 's worth it ) . IMAX tickets made up 20 percent of revenue — because if there 's one thing that looks great on a big screen , it 's outer space . Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 dropped 37 percent in its second weekend to $ 21.5 million , which gives the animated title a $ 60.6 million total after 10 days . Sony spent $ 78 million on the saucy sequel and wisely scheduled it away from other family competition , which should allow it to thrive throughout October . ( By comparison , films like Turbo and The Smurfs 2 got choked out this summer while competing with each other and Despicable Me 2 and Monsters University . ) The next animated film to arrive in theaters , Free Birds , wo n't come out until Nov. 1 . Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake faltered in third place with their new crime drama Runner Runner , which earned a weak $ 7.6 million in its first three days . Both stars are hotter than ever : Affleck , after winning an Oscar for Argo and landing the Batman role in Warner Bros. ' upcoming Man of Steel sequel , and Timberlake , after hitting No . 1 with his comeback album The 20/20 Experience , the sequel to which is projected to be the No . 1 album this week . But nothing about Runner Runner inspired crowds to check it out in theaters . Audiences issued the poorly reviewed film , which cost Fox about $ 30 million , a weak `` C '' CinemaScore grade . Prisoners and Rush made up the rest of the Top 5 . Prisoners fell 48 percent to $ 5.7 million , giving the Hugh Jackman vehicle a $ 47.9 million total against a $ 46 million budget . The film earned excellent reviews , but has had trouble holding on to audiences due to the arrival of Rush , Don Jon , and Gravity — three well-reviewed dramas attracting attention . Fortunately , Prisoners is holding on better than one of those films , Rush , which fell 56 percent this weekend to $ 4.4 million . The Formula One racing drama starring Chris Hemsworth and directed by Ron Howard has now earned $ 18.1 million total and will fall short of its $ 38 million budget . 1 . Gravity -- $ 55.6 million . 2 . Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 -- $ 21.5 million . 3 . Runner Runner -- $ 7.6 million . 4 . Prisoners -- $ 5.7 million . 5 . Rush -- $ 4.4 million . Check back next weekend for full box office coverage of new releases Machete Kills and Captain Phillips . See the original story at EW.com .
The Timberlake thriller blasted into third place . The film played to a much broader audience than most Bullock/Clooney -fi films . Affleck and sci faltered in third place with Clooney .