{"id":8685,"date":"2025-09-07T23:21:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T23:21:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/8685\/"},"modified":"2025-09-07T23:21:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T23:21:06","slug":"the-conjuring-last-rites-explodes-to-83-million-opening-weekend-third-highest-ever-for-horror","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/8685\/","title":{"rendered":"‘The Conjuring: Last Rites’ Explodes to $83 Million Opening Weekend, Third Highest Ever for Horror"},"content":{"rendered":"

Warner Bros.\/New Line\u2019s \u201cThe Conjuring: Last Rites<\/a>\u201d has exploded past all expectations. Not only has the advertised finale to the occult horror saga set a franchise record with a jaw-dropping $83 million opening weekend, it stands as the third-highest opening weekend ever for a horror film. <\/p>\n

The only films that top it are also Warner\/New Line releases: Andy Muschietti\u2019s \u201cIt\u201d duology, which set the genre record with the first installment in 2017 with $123.4 million, followed by \u201cChapter Two\u201d with $91 million in 2019<\/p>\n

Internationally, \u201cLast Rites\u201d stands even higher with a $104 million overseas total, surpassing the $94 million for \u201cIt: Chapter Two\u201d as its global launch stands at an incredible $187 million against a reported $55 million budget.<\/p>\n

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And on top of all of that, it is Warner Bros.\u2019 record seventh straight release to earn a $40 million-plus opening, joining the likes of Legendary\u2019s \u201cA Minecraft Movie\u201d ($164 million opening), DC Studios\u2019 \u201cSuperman,\u201d ($125 million), Apple\u2019s \u201cF1\u201d ($57 million) and Ryan Coogler\u2019s original film \u201cSinners\u201d ($48 million). <\/p>\n

It also joins two others New Line horror films: \u201cFinal Destination: Bloodlines\u201d ($51.6 million) and \u201cWeapons\u201d ($43.5 million), making the production company a vital part of what has become Warner\u2019s strongest box office year since 2018 with more than $1.7 billion domestic and $3.7 billion worldwide. New Line films have combined for approximately 20% of that total with $768 million grossed and counting.<\/p>\n

Trackers did not expect \u201cConjuring: Last Rites\u201d to reach these heights, with projections topping out at $60 million. But a blockbuster-light August, combined with the stronger-than-expected love for Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga\u2019s franchise protagonists Ed and Lorraine Warren, has made the marketing for this film as the final chapter of their story extremely potent. <\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"good-boy\"\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

And while the Warrens\u2019 story in the \u201cConjuring\u201d universe is now at an end, that doesn\u2019t preclude Warner, New Line, and series\u2019 rights holders The Safran Company \u2014 run by DC Studios co-chief Peter Safran \u2014 from continuing the franchise with new characters a la \u201cJurassic World Rebirth.\u201d Whether and how \u201cThe Conjuring\u201d will continue remains to be seen, but given that \u201cLast Rites\u201d just showed the enduring audience demand for this series, Warner will almost certainly want to try.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a blessed relief for theaters, which weren\u2019t expecting any film to get close to the $111 million opening of \u201cBeetlejuice Beetlejuice\u201d last September but now have the hope of at least one film easing the box office through what is expected to be a slow autumn, particularly with two films previously slated for October, \u201cMichael\u201d and \u201cMortal Kombat II,\u201d moving to May 2026. <\/p>\n

Even if the mixed reception to \u201cLast Rites\u201d leads to a more frontloaded box office run \u2014 the film earned a 55% Rotten Tomatoes<\/a> score and a B on CinemaScore, the latter being the lowest grade for the main \u201cConjuring\u201d series \u2014 a $150 million-plus box office run is almost assured for this film as theaters look ahead to a month that includes Sony\/Crunchyroll\u2019s \u201cDemon Slayer: Infinity Castle\u201d and Warner\u2019s final release for the year, Paul Thomas Anderson\u2019s \u201cOne Battle After Another.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond \u201cConjuring,\u201d the No. 2 film on the charts this weekend was Disney\u2019s theatrical release of \u201cHamilton,\u201d specifically the filmed version of the original Broadway production starring Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr. and Anthony Ramos. Released to celebrate the musical\u2019s 10th anniversary, the film earned $10 million from 1,825 locations this weekend after being released on Disney+ in 2021. <\/p>\n

\u201cWeapons\u201d sits in third with $5.3 million in its fifth weekend and totals of $143 million domestic and $251 million worldwide. Disney\u2019s \u201cFreakier Friday\u201d is fourth with $3.8 million and an $87.8 million domestic total after five weekends, and Sony\u2019s \u201cCaught Stealing\u201d completes the top 5 with $3.2 million for a $14.9 million total after two weekends.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Roofman\"\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Warner Bros.\/New Line\u2019s \u201cThe Conjuring: Last Rites\u201d has exploded past all expectations. Not only has the advertised finale…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8686,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[5784,156,409,11077,111,139,69,3722,5942],"class_list":["post-8685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-box-office","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-new-line-cinema","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-the-conjuring-last-rites","tag-warner-bros"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}