'Prisoners' Captures #1 Spot With $21 Million

, the

hostage drama starring Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis, led the box office after defeating FilmDistrict's

. Directed by James Wan, the second

earned an estimated

-- 64 percent less than what the firm earned ($40.2 million) when it opened last weekend. That is a steeper drop than the one experienced by Wan's last horror film,

, which earned $41.8 million during its first weekend and

during its second weekend. While

carried an R rating,

was rated PG-13. This gave it greater reach than other, more violent horror films.

, which was helmed by Canadian director Denis Villeneuve, did not have the luxury of achieving a PG-13 rating. The dark subject matter (two little girls are kidnapped on Thanksgiving) and grotesque visuals might be acceptable on a TV show like

, but they are considered R-rated material for movie theaters. Thus far, the R rating has not hindered

success. According to

, the film grossed an estimated

in theaters last weekend. That is only a couple million less than the amount that Warner Bros.'s

(which had a more neutral bank heist theme) earned in

.

With a budget of $46 million, Prisoners should become profitable by the end of its box office run.

, which cost $5 million to produce and has earned a total of $60.8 million domestically, is already profitable. Relativity's

came in third place with

. This brings the film's total domestic gross to $25.6 million -- roughly $4 million less than its $30 million budget.

came in fourth place with $5.7 million, followed by Screen Gems'

with $5 million. Disclosure: