would debut to $50 million or $60 million<\/a>. However, pent-up demand to go to the movies (there hasn\u2019t 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 reprised their roles as paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, who in this entry are trying to vanquish a demon from a family\u2019s home. It\u2019s billed as the final installment in the \u201cConjuring\u201d world, though that\u2019s unlikely to be the case after this weekend\u2019s box office performance.<\/p>\n\n\tInternationally, \u201cThe Conjuring: Last Rites\u201d earned $104 million from 66 territories for a stunning global launch of $187 million. In yet another record, these ticket sales overtook \u201cIt: Chapter Two\u201d ($92 million) for the largest overseas debut for a horror film.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThis is a smash,\u201d says analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research. \u201cHorror fans can\u2019t get enough of Lorraine and Ed Warren.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAcross nine films (spinoffs include \u201cAnnabelle\u201d and \u201cThe Nun\u201d), the \u201cConjuring\u201d universe has become the highest-grossing horror franchise in history with a combined $2.3 billion. This installment cost $55 million to produce, which will make for some scary-good profit margins. Michael Chaves, who directed the prior film in the series, returned behind the camera while James Wan, who created the occult-tilted property,\u00a0and\u00a0Peter Safran\u00a0were back as producers.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe Conjuring: Last Rites\u201d has extended a remarkable streak for Warner Bros. as the seventh consecutive release to open above $40 million this year, a first for any Hollywood studio. After a terrible box office run with \u201cJoker: Folie a Deux,\u201d \u201cMickey 17,\u201d and \u201cThe Alto Knights,\u201d Warner Bros. rebounded with April\u2019s \u201cA Minecraft Movie\u201d followed by \u201cSinners,\u201d \u201cFinal Destination Bloodlines,\u201d \u201cF1: The Movie\u201d (which the studio distributed for Apple), \u201cSuperman\u201d and \u201cWeapons.\u201d These outsized wins have taken the pressure off the studio\u2019s next gamble, Paul Thomas Anderson\u2019s $130 million-budgeted \u201cOne Battle After Another,\u201d which opens at the end of September.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn a distant second place, Disney\u2019s filmed version of \u201cHamilton\u201d earned a notable $10 million from
1,825 theaters in its first weekend on the big screen. It\u2019s an impressive figure since the taping of the Broadway sensation has been available to watch on Disney+ since 2020. Though touted as a limited one-week engagement, \u201cHamilton\u201d will stay in theaters as long as people keep returning to the room where it happens.<\/p>\n
\n\tThis weekend has been a huge boon to movie theater owners after the vital summer season ended with a whimper. Comparisons to the same frame in 2024 are tough \u2014 down nearly 22% \u2014 because that\u2019s when the Warner Bros. sequel \u201cBeetlejuice Beetlejuice\u201d launched to $111 million. However, the year-to-date box office remains 3.8% ahead of last year, according to Comscore.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAfter a rather quiet month of August, the industry needed a boost \u2014 and \u2018The Conjuring: Last Rites\u2019 has provided both a box office and a morale booster,\u201d says senior Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian. \u201cThere is no better way to kick off a fall movie season than an overperforming film. This sets the stage for movies set to release in the coming weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tSeveral holdover titles rounded out the top five on North American charts. \u201cWeapons\u201d landed in third place with $5.3 million in its third weekend of release. A late-summer sleeper hit, \u201cWeapons\u201d has generated a huge $143 million domestically and $251 million globally to date.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cFreakier Friday\u201d and director Darren Aronofsky\u2019s crime thriller \u201cCaught Stealing\u201d followed in close succession with $3.8 million and $3.2 million in their fifth and second outings, respectively. Disney\u2019s sequel to \u201cFreaky Friday\u201d has been a modest performer with $87 million in North America and $142 million worldwide. Meanwhile, \u201cCaught Stealing,\u201d which sharply declined by 60% from its debut, hasn\u2019t connected with audiences, having earned just $14.9 million domestically and $24.3 million globally so far.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Conjuring: Last Rites\u201d has resurrected the box office, collecting a sensational $83 million in its first weekend…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[57738,96,2839,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-121136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-conjuring-the-last-rites","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}