"The Nun" Delivers "The Conjuring" Franchise Record w/ $131M Global Debut

[JamesG]

The Nun Delivers The Conjuring Franchise Record, $131 Million Global Debut
by Brad Brevet
September 9, 2018


Warner Bros. and New Line's The Nun made good on expectations, setting a new franchise opening weekend record (both globally and domestically) and delivering the second largest September opening ever.

Meanwhile, STX's release of Peppermint delivered on expectations, and Mission: Impossible - Fallout became Tom Cruise's highest grossing worldwide release of all-time, topping $725 million globally.







With an estimated $53.5 million, Warner Bros.'s release of New Line's The Nun destroyed the previous franchise opening weekend record set by the very first The Conjuring at $41.8 million.

The debut is also the second largest September opening ever, topping the $48.4 million set by Hotel Transylvania 2 in 2015, while placing well behind the massive, $123.4 million opening for WB's It just last year.

In fact, The Nun's $53.5 million debut is also the second largest opening ever for an R-rated horror film, again placing behind WB's It.




This is the fifth straight weekend Warner Bros. has held the #1 spot at the weekend box office, doing so with three different films (The Meg and Crazy Rich Asians).

To that point, this is also the fourth straight weekend WB has held the #1 and #2 spot at the weekend box office, an achievement that hasn't happened in over 25 years.

The Nun was also a hit internationally, delivering $77.5 million from 60 overseas markets for a massive $131 million global debut.







WB also landed in second place with Crazy Rich Asians, which brought in an estimated $13.6 million, pushing the film's domestic cume over $136 million.

The film also added another $5.6 million in 23 markets, bringing the overseas running cume to $28.5 million and a global cume just shy of $165 million.







STX's Peppermint debuted within industry expectations, while outperforming BoxOfficeMojo's forecast, delivering an estimated $13.26 million opening. The debut is just ahead of the pre-weekend comp to MGM's Death Wish and just a shade behind the $14.4 million debut for John Wick.

In fact, the "B+" CinemaScore from opening day audiences is an improvement on Wick's "B" and on par with Death Wish.




STX did not finance the $25 million (net) production, which should push toward a $35+ million domestic run while the studio is anticipating a strong performance overseas where it began its run this weekend in 17 markets, grossing an estimated $1.4 million.

The film's top market was the Netherlands with a $370k opening.







In fourth is WB's The Meg, which pushed its domestic cume over $131 million after an estimated $6 million this weekend, giving WB three of the weekend's top four films.

Internationally the film grossed another $11.3 million in 67 territories, including a $3.3 million opening in Japan, taking the international running cume to $360.4 million for a global tally just shy of $492 million.







Sony's Searching rounded out the top five with an estimated $4.5 million, dropping just 26% as it expanded further this weekend into 2,009 locations (+802).

The film also added $7.5 million internationally this weekend from just eight markets, bringing the overseas cume to $17.7 million.







Just outside the top five is Mission: Impossible - Fallout, which brought in an estimated $3.8 million, bringing its domestic cume to $212.1 million, just $3.3 million shy of topping Mission: Impossible II to become the highest grossing domestic release in the franchise.

That said, with an estimated $38.6 million internationally this weekend, the film's global cume now totals $726.6 million making it the highest grossing worldwide release not only in the Mission franchise, but the highest grossing worldwide release in Tom Cruise's career.







Finishing outside the top ten is Freestyle's God Bless the Broken Road, which fell well behind the studio's $4-4.5 million expectations, delivering just $1.56 million over its three-day debut.

In limited release, Magnolia's Kusama: Infinity opened with $30,400 from two locations; 4th Row's Bisbee '17 brought in $6,650 from one theater; Oscilloscope's Hal opened at New York's IFC Center with an estimated $5,150; Cinema Libre's Nelly also opened in one location with an estimated $1,500; and Film Arcade's Realms delivered just $118 from three locations for a $39 per theater average.

https://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4435&p=.htm









September 7-9, 2018 Weekend Studio Estimates:


1. The Nun $53,500,000
2. Crazy Rich Asians $13,600,000 / $136,222,165
3. Peppermint $13,260,000
4. The Meg $6,030,000 / $131,572,774
5. Searching $4,515,000 / $14,311,130
6. Mission: Impossible - Fallout $3,800,000 / $212,116,767
7. Christopher Robin $3,196,000 / $91,725,090
8. Operation Finale $3,043,000 / $14,107,446
9. Alpha $2,505,000 / $32,447,518
10. BlacKkKlansman $1,565,000 / $43,454,530