‘Conjuring: Last Rites’ Jolts Box Office Back to Life With Colossal $83M U.S. Bow, $187M Globally

Let the resurrection begin.

Jolting the domestic box office back to life in a major way, New Line’s The Conjuring: Last Rites topped the weekend chart with a colossal $83 million domestic debut, including a huge $34.5 million Friday, including a record $8.5 million in Thursday previews.

That’s by far the best opening in the history of the franchise and the third-biggest horror opening of all time in yet another win for Warner Bros.’ film empire, as well as the best showing of the year so far for any Hollywood horror title. Last Rites is the seventh consecutive WB release to open north of $40 million this year, a first for any Hollywood studio and one of the numerous milestones achieved this year by the once-struggling studio.

The news only gets better from there. The R-rated film continued to see its audience grow throughout the weekend. On Friday afternoon, it looked like it was headed for a record $65 million-plus bow. On Saturday, it was on course to open to $75 million from 3,802 theaters, including a lion’s share of higher-priced Imax and other premium large-format screens, which are a boon for the film in accounting for 40 percent of its total gross so far.

Sunday’s estimate of $83 million marks left Warners and New Line reeling, considering they had projected $35 million heading into the weekend, although other box pundits thought north of $50 million was more likely.

Overseas, Last Rites also came in well ahead of an expected $50 million with a record-shattering $104 million for a terrifyingly great global start of $187 million against a net production budget of $55 million before marketing. It surpassed fellow New Line release It: Chapter Two ($92.5 million) to rank as the industry’s top foreign bow of all time at the foreign box office, not adjusted for inflation, and Hollywood’s second-largest horror bow of all time globally.

The Conjuring: Last Rites stars Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson are in their final turn as real-life paranormal investigators Lorraine and Ed Warren, but that doesn’t mean the franchise is going anywhere. Last Rites is billed as the ninth and final title in Phase One of The Conjuring Universe, which has become the top-earning horror franchise ever after collecting more than $2.3 billion in global ticket sales, not adjusted for inflation. Next up is Phase Two.

Directed by series regular Michael Chaves, Last Rites — a sequel to The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It — is based on the Warren’s investigation of the Smurl haunting in Pennsylvania. Mia Tomlinson and Ben Hardy also star, with Atomic Monster’s James Wan and DC Studios co-chief Peter Safran returning to produce.

In 2013, the very first Conjuring movie opened to $41 million domestically, not adjusted for inflation. No subsequent title in the Conjuring Universe was able to topple that record until The Nun, which debuted to $53.8 million in 2018.

Critics haven’t been so kind to the new Last Rites movie — the same could be said for most installments — but audience reaction is promising. The pic received a B CinemaScore, a great grade for a horror pic.

That isn’t the only new offering on the marquee scaring up strong numbers as the fall box office gets underway. Disney’s rerelease of the acclaimed 2021 filmed version of Lin-Manuel Miranda‘s groundbreaking stage musical Hamilton is singing to strong numbers, earning an estimated $3.9 million on Friday, including $850,000 in Thursday previews.

Based on early returns, Hamilton is now on track to come in second for the weekend with a pleasing $10 million, slightly ahead of last weekend’s 50th anniversary rerelease of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws.

Hamilton is booked in 1,825 theaters domestically, including over 100 premium large-format screens. Promoted as a one-week limited engagement, the run will likely be extended based on demand.

Between them, Warner Bros. and Disney own the upper reaches of the box office chart.

Warners and New Line’s Weapons and Disney’s Freakier Friday, both now in their fifth outings, held steady in fourth and fifth place.

Weapons took in $5.4 million domestically from 3,284 North American theaters for a domestic cume of $143 million despite fierce competition from Conjuring. Overseas, it earned another $4.6 million as it cleared the $250 million mark in worldwide ticket sales.

People are well aware of Weapons‘ staying power, but Freakier Friday‘s stamina has also become a topic of conversation. The long-awaited sequel fell only 44 percent to $3.8 million for a domestic total of $87.8 from 3,125 cinemas (that was the best hold of any film in the top 10). Overseas, its foreign tally stands at $55.1 million for a global total of $142.9 million.

Darren Aronofsky’s star-studded Caught Stealing isn’t as fortunate, at least so far. It tumbled 59 percent in its second outing to $3.2 million from 3,578 locations for a for a fifth-place finish domestically.

Sept. 5, 1:50 p.m.: Updated with revised weekend projections.
Sept. 6, 8:00 a.m.: Updated with revised weekend projections.
Sept. 6, 9:15 a.m.: Updated with revised overseas numbers.
Sept. 7:30 a.m.: Updated with revised weekend estimates

This story was originally published today at 8:28 a.m.