It's the year for horror, as demonstrated this time by The Conjuring: Last Rites. The film's opening weekend tipped the genre over $1 billion in earnings for the year's domestic box office. The horror sequel raked in $83 million domestically in 3,802 theaters, making it the third-highest domestic opening for a horror movie, behind It and It: Chapter Two. It's now the largest horror opening internationally, with $104 million in earnings outside of North American theaters, the AP reports. The film also broke records for the Conjuring universe, securing the biggest opening weekend in the franchise.
The horror genre last crossed the $1 billion mark in 2023. Meeting that threshold this early in the year is unprecedented, said Paul Dergarabedian of the data firm Comscore. Upcoming horror films like Black Phone 2 and Five Nights at Freddy's 2 are likely to boost that number, an analyst said. Disney's filmed version of Hamilton landed in second place with $10 million domestically. The rest of the top spots were dominated by holdover titles.
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
- The Conjuring: Last Rites, $83 million.
- Hamilton, $10 million.
- Weapons, $5.4 million.
- Freakier Friday, $3.8 million.
- Caught Stealing, $3.2 million.
- The Roses, $2.8 million.
- The Fantastic Four: First Steps, $2.8 million.
- The Bad Guys 2, $2.5 million.
- Light of the World, $2.4 million.
- Superman, $1 million.