The latest rites dominated the box office

The box office just had a big weekend. Thanks to the power of the Conjuring universe, the fall films season started with a blow while the stories of supernatural investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren are clearly interested in moviegoers from around the world. For example, “The Conjuring: Last Rites” published a new record for the biggest weekend of opening all time for a horror film.

Directed by Michael Chaves (“The Nun 2”, “The Conjuring: The Devil Me Mo Do It”) opened at 84 million amazing dollars at the national level to go with $ 110 million internationally for a total of $ 194 million. This does it just above “IT” of 2017, which opened $ 190 million worldwide for a global finish of $ 700 million. This adaptation of Stephen King’s beloved novel remains the most profitable horror film ever made. Needless to say, “Last Rites” is in very good company.

To add an additional context, “The Conjuring: The Devil made me do it” made $ 206 million throughout its theatrical race, which was a success given its budget of $ 40 million. The fact that the last continuation almost overshadowed this number in a single weekend is amazing. So, what went well for the last previous chapter of the Warrens saga? How Warner Bros. Has he delivered such a massive winner in the franchise race? We will review some of the biggest reasons why “Last Rites” dominated the box office during its opening weekend. Let’s go.

One thing that greatly benefited “The Conjuring: Last Rites” was the repressed demand for a great event film. August started with a blow when “Weapons” and “Freaker Friday” Friday “both arrived, but the rest of the month was very, very quiet, with” Kpop Demon Hunters “of Netflix ($ 19.2 million) offering a little boost for a single weekend. Beyond that, however, it was a series of small films and failures that led to a sad summer season.

The Labor Day weekend was particularly austere, with the reissue of “jaws” better than three new releases, notably “captured of flight”, “The Roses” and “The Toxic Avenger”. The fact is that there was nothing in the path of the last entry of the combined universe. There was nothing by direct competition, and we do not come out of a series of several weeks of great outings satisfying the appetites of moviegoers worldwide. The public was ready (otherwise impatient) for something that deserves to be directed to a theater.

It certainly serves as a continuation of the trend we have seen, with the “possibly” nature of things that take over. Films that can actually be sold as essential events tend to do well, and “The Conjuring” films have certainly won this public approval seal over the past decade and change.

When “The Conjuring” by director James Wan became an unexpected success in 2013, he launched not only a single horror frankness, but an entire cinematographic universe. It is undoubtedly the most successful cinematographic universe outside of Marvel, at least in terms of return on investment and consistency. This led to spin-offs like “Annabelle” and “The Nun”, with “Last Rites” pushing the franchise after the $ 2.5 billion mark around the world. It is one of the most successful horror frankas of all time.

Warner Bros. To all the motivations to maintain the series, but “Last Rites” promised the public a kind of conclusion to the history of the Warrens. Does this mean that the franchise will really end? Probably not. Whether with more spin-offs or another continuation, there is almost no chance that the studio lets this milk cow leave. But in the way “Avengers: Endgame” provided a kind of conclusion to a decade of narration, this film promised something similar to a faithful audience. This made it a bigger event than usual for Hardcore horror fans, who were happy came en masse to watch Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga do their thing as Warrens, one last time.

This may seem obvious to the light of a global opening of almost $ 200 million, but it is repeated: the public absolutely loves “The Conjuring” Movies. The combined universe did not deliver a flop, with ten films to its credit extending over 12 years. Even the films that were, we will say, not critically embraced have performed well. (The first “Annabelle” made $ 257 million worldwide against a small budget of $ 6 million.)

“The Nun” remains the biggest film in the franchise with $ 366 million. It will soon change, but the point remains the same. This film, a bit like “Annabelle”, met very bitter criticism. All the same, the public came happily. It is also because Warner Bros. has the course corrected for each turn, with “Annabelle: Creation” and “The Nun 2” serving large improvements to their predecessors.

What resulted was a franchise that the public knew how to deliver the goods; They will get what they want from the price of admission. The combined universe has eluded the law of the decrease in yields by keeping things fresh, exploring new ideas and meeting expectations. It is easier to say than to do, but this opening speaks volumes about the respect that this franchise has won over the years.

In the event of a crisis, it seems that we can always count on horror to bring the box office back to life. “The Mishenced” broke the box office records in the middle of the cocovio-19 pandemic. The “weapons” essentially kept the theaters afloat throughout the month of August. Now, “The Conjuring: Last Rites” has helped get the fall on the right foot after a very disappointing summer season.

Analysts were sure that the summer of 2025 would cross the $ 4 billion bar at the national box office, but the final count was well below this number. However, the horror has remained strong throughout the year, with “Sinners” by Ryan Coogler ($ 366 million worldwide), “Final Destination Bloodlines” ($ 307 million worldwide), “weapons” (251 million dollars worldwide) and “28 years later” (150 million dollars worldwide) all as high points this year. “Last Rites” is instantly added to this list.

Of course, we had a few failures along the way, like “M3gan 2.0”, but the successes prevail from afar on the Miss. More than that, the size of the blows is amazing. If things go well, the “last rites” could collect $ 500 million or more in the world when everything is said and done. This could do more than all the other superhero films this year apart “Superman”, unless it falls from a cliff in the coming weeks. It will not always work, but horror continues to assert itself as the most reliable genre from the pandemic. It is not even close.

The year of the studio may have started on a rough basis with flops like “Mickey 17” and “The Alto Knights”, but say that Warner Bros. recovered from this rocky beginning would be an insulting understatement. What Mike de Luca and Pam Abdy have accomplished with the Studio 2025 of the studio as heads of the Warner Bros. cinema studio. Discovery is nothing more remarkable. As such, the management by the studio of “The Conjuring: Last Rites”, of making a film satisfactory to marketing and everything else, cannot be reduced.

Warner Bros. had established a box office record with six consecutive films at $ 40 million or more. This sequence now extends to seven films. With the success of “Last Rites”, WB has exceeded Disney as the best box office studio for 2025 so far. The studio did it with original films, franchises, big blockbusters and more. This film had the advantage of being part of the combined universe and its success has always been presumed, but no one could rightly predict This level.

CEO David Zaslav was rightly criticized for many decisions he has made as Warner Bros. Discovery. From Luca and Abdy were damn fired after a series of disappointments. But it is clear that they are the right people for work, in the light of this amazing opening weekend. It is clear that Zaslav managed to get out of the right way: what they are doing, and WB was the undisputed MVP of the summer. They could also be the MVP of the fall. It was the right movie of the right studio at the right time.

“The Conjuring: Last Rites” is now in theaters.