Warner Bros. continues its ownership of the post-Labor Day frame with this weekend’s New Line/Safran Company/Atomic Monster supposed finale, The Conjuring: Last Rites, which is eyeing $40M+ domestic and $80M+ worldwide.
The opening here is bound to rep a return to form for the Conjuring franchise at the box office; the previous sequel, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, was a theatrical day-and-date release in post-pandemic 2021 on HBO Max and in theaters, and posted a siphoned opening of $24.1M domestic, finishing with $65.6M stateside and $206M worldwide take.
After a summer that came in even at $3.67 billion in North America, the industry is bracing for a slowdown this month vs. last year, which saw Warner Bros’ Beetlejuice Beetlejuice post the second-best start for September at $111M domestic — this after the studio’s all-time opening record was set by Stephen King’s It back in 2017, which bowed to $123.4M.
Conjuring: Last Rites is expected to be the biggest tentpole in early fall until Disney’s Tron: Ares arrives on October 10. That is, unless Warner’s Leonardo DiCaprio-starring, Paul Thomas Anderson-directed One Battle After Another (September 26) or Sony’s Margot Robbie-Colin Farrell pic A Big Bold Beautiful Journey (September 19) suddenly surprises.
Conjuring: Last Rites is booked at 3,700 theaters in U.S./Canada and 15,500 screens abroad in 66 territories including Korea, Germany, Italy, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Spain and the UK. Conjuring will have all the prayers from Imax, Dolby, PLFs and Motion Seat ticket upcharges. Previews start stateside on at 3 p.m. Thursday
The pic is directed by New Line horror fave Michael Chaves, who helmed The Curse of La Llorona, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It and spinoff The Nun 2. Last Rites follows Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga’s Ed and Lorraine Warren, who tackle one final case in the 1980s that takes a personal toll on the duo and their daughter (Mia Tomlinson).
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On U.S. tracking, Conjuring: Last Rites looks heaven-sent with overall unaided awareness ahead of Final Destination: Bloodlines ($51.6M in May) and The Nun 2 ($32.6M during the 2023 strike). First choice is on par with Bloodlines and close to double that of Nun 2, with women under 25 being the strongest demographic. In The Conjuring universe, 2018’s The Nun holds the franchise-record opening at $53.8M. It’s also the top-grossing pic in the series at $366 million. The Conjuring universe is the largest-grossing horror franchise in motion picture history with $2.3B+ worldwide. New Line is the only company with two billion-dollar horror franchises, with The Conjuring universe and IT/IT Chapter Two at $1.2B.
Disney has the second wide studio entry this weekend with the filmed version of Broadway sensation Hamilton, which already played on Disney+ back in July 2020 to great viewership and won two Emmys. The theatrical release is expected to ring up around $7M at 1,800 theaters with previews starting Thursday at 2PM. Disney bought the musical created by and starring Lin-Manuel Miranda in February 2020 for $75M. Before Covid, the movie was originally intended to have a theatrical release.
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No Rotten Tomatoes reviews yet on Last Rites. The first two Conjuring movies have the best grades in the series with an A- apiece, an anomaly for a horror film, which usually scores in the Bs or Cs with general audiences.