“The Conjuring: Last Rites” is yet another box office hit for Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema, obliterating the record for the James Wan franchise with an industry estimated $77.5 million opening weekend from 3,302 locations.
This comes after a $34.5 million opening day that includes $8.5 million from Thursday preview screenings. The record for the “Conjuring” franchise, which spans eight previous films going back to 2013, previously belonged to the 2018 spinoff “The Nun” with $53.8 million.
Box office trackers had expected a much stronger opening than the $24.1 million launch of the last mainline installment of the series, “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It,” which was released day-and-date on HBO Max in 2021. But this incredibly strong opening shows how much the franchise and its protagonists Ed and Lorraine Warren, played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, have resonated with fans.
The one blemish for “Last Rites” is that reception for the film, while stronger than several of the “Conjuring” spinoffs, is not as strong as the mainline films. Along with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 55% critics and 78% audience, the film earned a B on CinemaScore. By comparison, the first two “Conjuring” films earned an A- while “The Devil Made Me Do It” earned a B+. That may be a sign that “Last Rites” will have a more frontloaded run.
Still, this launch is a marked overperformance and a welcome sign for theaters given that this September is not going to have a huge $100 million-plus opening like the one delivered by Warner’s “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” last year. “The Conjuring: Last Rites” will turn a profit against its reported $55 million budget and will do its part to mitigate what is expected to be a slower autumn box office.
Also opening this weekend is Disney’s theatrical release of “Hamilton” to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Tony-winning musical’s Broadway debut. First released on Disney+ in 2021, the theatrical version of the musical led by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr. and Anthony Ramos is projected to earn $9.7 million from 1,825 locations.
