Like many horrors before it, bad reviews didn鈥檛 scare off moviegoers from buying tickets for 鈥� .鈥� The sequel to the 2018 hit, released in 3,728 theaters by Warner Bros., topped the box office in its first weekend in North American theaters earning an estimated $32.6 million, the studio said Sunday.
AP鈥檚 Mark Kennedy wrote in his one star review that it鈥檚 鈥渁 movie that seems destined to pound a nail into this franchise鈥檚 undead coffin鈥� and audiences gave it a C+ CinemaScore. But it hardly matters: Horror is perhaps the most reliably critic-proof genre, at least when it comes to opening weekend.
The Michael Graves-directed sequel starring Taissa Farmiga and Storm Reid fell far short of the debut for the first film ($53.8 million), but it鈥檚 still a solid launch. 鈥淭he Nun鈥� movies are part of the so-called Conjuring universe, which now has nine films, and $2.1 billion in box office, to its name. The sequel also played well internationally, picking up $52.7 million from 69 markets (Mexico being the strongest with $8.9 million) and boosting its global debut to $85.3 million.
鈥淭o have a horror universe is really powerful in terms of the revenue generating potential,鈥� said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a great bet that Warners made on the horror moviegoing experience never waning.鈥�
And there are many more scary movies on the calendar through the fall including 鈥淎 Death in Venice,鈥� which opens next week, 鈥淪aw X鈥� on Sept. 29 and 鈥淭he Exorcist: Believer鈥� on Oct. 6.
鈥淭he Nun II鈥� bumped Denzel Washington鈥檚 鈥� 鈥� to second place in its second weekend. The Columbia Pictures release added $12.1 million, bringing its domestic grosses to $61.9 million and its worldwide earnings to $107.7 million.
Third place went to another new movie: The third installment of Nia Vardalos鈥檚 鈥淢y Big Fat Greek Wedding,鈥� which arrives 21 years after the first film became a massive sleeper hit earning some $369 million against a $5 million production budget. Released by Focus Features in 3,650 theaters, the third film earned an estimated $10 million, overwhelmingly driven by female audiences (71%) who were 25 or older (83%).
Vardalos wrote, directed and stars in 鈥淕reek Wedding 3,鈥� which brings back John Corbett and takes the gang to Greece. AP鈥檚 that the movie, which has gotten mostly poor marks, is 鈥渓ike a thrice-warmed piece of baklava.鈥�
The Indian revenge thriller, 鈥淛awan,鈥� starring Shah Rukh Khan, opened in fourth place with $6.2 million from only 813 locations. It was released in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. Khan, a Bollywood superstar, also led another box office sensation this year, 鈥淧athaan,鈥� which has made $130 million worldwide.
鈥淏arbie,鈥� which comes to VOD on Tuesday, dropped to No. 5 after 8 triumphant weeks with $5.9 million from 3,281 locations. The Warner Bros. film has now made $620.5 million domestically.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. 鈥淭he Nun II,鈥� $32.6 million.
2. 鈥淭he Equalizer 3,鈥� $12.1 million.
3. 鈥淢y Big Fat Greek Wedding 3,鈥� $10 million.
4. 鈥淛awan,鈥� $6.2 million.
5. 鈥淏arbie,鈥� $5.9 million.
6. 鈥淏lue Beetle,鈥� $3.8 million.
7. 鈥淕ran Turismo: Based on a True Story,鈥� $3.4 million.
8. 鈥淥ppenheimer,鈥� $3 million.
9. 鈥淭eenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,鈥� $2.6 million.
10. 鈥淏ottoms,鈥� $2.1 million.
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