CONJURING: LAST RITES Posts One Of Horror’s Biggest Box Office Openings Ever
Leave it to Ed and Lorraiane Warren to save the box office. The duo of real-life paranormal investigators have anchored The Conjuring Universe dating back to director James Wan’s original 2013 movie that started it all. 12 years later, we’ve arrived at the end as The Conjuring: Last Rites is billed as the final entry in the franchise. For now, at least. But if it is the end, what an ending indeed as it now ranks as one of the biggest opening weekends for a horror movie ever without caveat.
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Directed by Michael Chaves (The Nun 2), Last Rites opened to an estimated $83 million domestically to go with a stellar $104 million overseas for a grand total of $187 million. The only horror movie to ever make more on opening weekend was 2017’s It, based on Stephen King’s beloved novel, which debuted to $190 million globally en route to $700 million worldwide. Needless to say, that’s damn good company to be in. Not for nothing, that was also a Warner Bros. production.
For some additional context, the previous record for an opening weekend within The Conjuring Universe was The Nun, which debuted to $53.8 million domestically on its way to $366 million worldwide. Last Rites will sail by that number well before September ends. For an even more staggering comparison, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It made $206 million during its entire, global theatrical run in 2021.
Ahead of the weekend, the movie had been expected to earn closer to $50 million. It overperformed in a big, bad way. Reviews for the film were decent but it’s clear that audiences love these characters. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga have helped turn the Warrens into global horror icons. The notion of this being the end of the road for them as these figures certainly resonated with audiences.
It also didn’t hurt that there was pent-up demand from audiences. August was a straight-up dead zone, with Weapons topping the box office for most of the month. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, but when your number one movie on a given weekend fails to crack $15 million, there’s room for more. Horror fans will show up when catered to correctly as we’ve seen time and time again this year, with Sinners, Final Destination Bloodlines and 28 Years Later serving as other examples of the genre firing on all cylinders.
Circling back to The Conjuring Universe, the franchise has crossed the $2.5 billion mark globally. That number should be closer to $3 billion when this movie’s run is over with. As for the future? More spin-offs could be in the cards, such as that long-awaited Crooked Man movie. But for now, the Warrens get to ride off into the sunset on a major high note.
The Conjuring: Last Rites is in theaters now. For more, check out Fanta’s slasher themed cans just in time for Halloween.
