Warner Bros. execs must feel like they died and went to Heaven. Or in the case of the latest installment in the Conjuring series, would it be the other place after the hefty weekend opening of The Nun?
The studio dominated for the fifth weekend in a row as the horror flick earned $53.5 million, crushing 2013’s The Conjuring, which previously held the record with $41.8 million. It’s also the second-best September debut behind Warner Bros.’ It. Overseas, “The Nun” generated a mighty $77.5 million for a global start of $131 million.
The first four movies in Warner Bros.’ Conjuring franchise — The Conjuring, Annabelle, The Conjuring 2, and Annabelle: Creation — have generated over $1.1 billion globally.
Crazy Rich Asians still had a solid showing in its fourth weekend, earning an impressive $13.2 million — a decline of 38%. Jon M. Chu’s rom-com has now earned $136 million in North America and $164 globally.
The final new entry of the weekend, faith-based drama God Bless the Broken Road, bowed with a dismal $1.5 million on 1,272 screens. The movie is loosely based on the hit Rascal Flatts song and stars American Idol alum Jordin Sparks, Robin Givens, Lindsay Pulsipher, and former NFL player LaDainian Tomlinson.
Rounding out the top five with impressive holdovers is Warner Bros. shark thriller The Meg and Sony’s Searching. The Meg earned another $6.1 million for a domestic tally of $131.6 million. Meanwhile, Searching brought in $4.5 million, taking its North American total to $14.3 million.
Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout (which is an amazing film and my favorite summer film) topped $700 million globally. It has now surpassed Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol ($649.7 million) as the highest grossing installment in the franchise and ahem, in Tom Cruise’s career.
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comScore’s Senior Media Analyst Paul Dergarabedian commented, “Warner Bros. has huge hit on its hands with The Conjuring universe providing yet another horror blockbuster as The Nun scares up a first place global debut of $131 million in 61 territories. Notably, Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout becomes the highest grossing film in the franchise as it hits $726.6 million in worldwide receipts.”
Although the first weekend in September is down from last year by 28.3%, according to comScore, the box office is still up a healthy 9.5% compared to 2017.
The top 12 domestic weekend box office estimates are below:
Nun, The – Warner Bros. – $53.5M
Crazy Rich Asians – Warner Bros. – $13.6M
Peppermint – STX Entertainment – $13.3M
Meg, The – Warner Bros. – $6.0M
Searching – Sony – $4.5M
Mission: Impossible – Fallout – Paramount – $3.8M
Disney’s Christopher Robin – Disney – $3.2M
Operation Finale – MGM – $3.0M
BlacKkKlansman – Focus Features – $2.6M
Alpha – Sony – $2.5M
God Bless The Broken Road – Freestyle Releasing – $1.6M
Incredibles 2 – Disney – $1.3M
The top 12 worldwide weekend box office estimates are below:
Nun, The – Warner Bros. – $131.0M
Mission: Impossible – Fallout – Paramount Pictures – $42.4M
Crazy Rich Asians – Warner Bros. – $19.2M
Meg, The – Warner Bros. – $17.3M
Peppermint – STX Entertainment – $14.7M
Searching – Sony – $12.0M
Alpha – Sony – $8.8M
Ant-Man And The Wasp – Disney – $7.6M
Equalizer 2, The – Sony – $7.0M
Incredibles 2 – Disney – $7.0M
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation – Sony – $6.9M
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again – Universal – $6.5M
Source: comScore
