So, in no surprise, the sequel to the 2014 hit The Conjuring earned nearly as much as its predecessor did on opening weekend, with a healthy 40 million debut over three days, sitting on decent reviews and an "A-" Cinemascore. Director James Wan has a litany of successful horror films to his name in recent years, including the Saw franchise and the Insidious series, not to mention last year's 1.5 billion grossing Fast and Furious installment, so this continues his roll, although it probably won't match the 137 million total of the first film, because horror movies tend to drop off quickly.
In second place was Warcraft, which only made about 24 million- not much for a film with a 160 million budget, but this movie is a bit of a riddle, because it's already earned massive numbers overseas, with over 300 million globally and more from China than either Star Wars: The Force Awakens or Batman v Superman earned in their entire runs in that country. And that's in its first four days alone. Wild. Third place went to Now You See Me 2, which dipped slightly from the first film's 29 million opening, while TMNT 2 and X-Men: Apocalypse rounded out the top five by crashing in a big way from previous weekends.
Top 5:
- The Conjuring 2- 40 million
- Warcraft- 25 million
- Now You See Me 2- 23 million
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows- 14.8 million
- X-Men: Apocalypse- 10 million
The best numbers posted in limited release this weekend came again from Love and Friendship, which is nearing 10 million total, and The Lobster, crossing 5 million, as this week saw the release of a documentary about Brian DePalma in arthouse theaters as well. Next week it's the opening of Pixar's Finding Dory, which is expected to be huge, and the Kevin Hart/Dwayne Johnson comedy Central Intelligence. It's kind of been a lame month for quality movies, but I'm holding out hope later in July for the next Bourne film, as far as blockbusters go.
