“The Conjuring: Last Rites” has resurrected the box office, collecting a sensational $83 million in its first weekend of release.
That’s a new opening weekend record for Warner Bros. and New Line’s “Conjuring” universe, supplanting the benchmark held by 2018’s spinoff “The Nun” with $53.8 million. Among other achievements, it’s the best start this year for a horror movie (above May’s “Final Destination: Bloodlines” with $51.6 million) and the third-largest for the genre in box office history.
Heading into the weekend, independent tracking services suggested that “The Conjuring: Last Rites” would debut to $50 million or $60 million. However, pent-up demand to go to the movies (there hasn’t been a new blockbuster in weeks), as well as great word-of-mouth and goodwill toward the franchise, sent the ticket sales into the stratosphere. Reviews were mixed, but that rarely makes a difference for the genre of horror. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga…