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 The latest from New Line and Warner Bros, which
serves as the fourth installment in what has become the
"Conjuring" extended universe, is casting its evil eye on $35
million from 3,502 locations. That's a strong start for the
horror flick, which was made for about $15 million.
The track record for the franchise is strong -- "Annabelle"
($37.1 million); "The Conjuring" ($41.9 million); and "The
Conjuring 2" ($40.4 million). David F. Sandberg directed the
sequel about a dollmaker whose creation terrorizes a group of
orphan girls. For those invested in the "Conjuring" canon, it
serves as a prequel to the first "Annabelle." Stephanie Sigman,
Talitha Bateman, Anthony LaPaglia, and Miranda Otto star in the
pic that critics have generally given a thumbs up to (it
currently has an 68% on Rotten Tomatoes).
"Annabelle is scary as hell," said Jeff Goldstein, distribution
chief at Warner Bros. "And it's exciting to see how broadly
audiences enjoyed it," he said, adding, "I think our marketing
team did a fabulous job."
The same studio's "Dunkirk" continues to show strong during its
fourth weekend, as it holds onto second place. One of the lone
bright spots in a generally dismal summer for the box office,
Christopher Nolan's World War II epic should make an additional
$11.4 million this weekend, pushing its domestic total past the
$150 million mark.
While it should land in the top three, Open Road's sequel "Nut
Job 2: Nutty by Nature" appears to be a miss. From 4,003
locations, the animated adventure should earn $8.9 million.
That's less than half of the first "Nut Job" movie, which opened
to $19.4 million before going on to take in $120.9 million
worldwide during its run. The sequel's story centers around a
group of animals who attempt to save their home from being
bulldozed and turned into an amusement park.
After "Nut Job 2" is Sony's "Dark Tower" which underperformed
during its opening weekend, and continues to slide. With $7.9
million from 3,451 locations, the movie looks to slip 59% from
its first frame. The same studio's "Emoji Movie" is rounding out
the top five with $6.6 million from 3,219 theaters, just ahead
of Universal's "Girls Trip" which is closing in on the $100
million milestone. That landmark was just met by Sony's "Baby
Driver," which took in $1.5 million this weekend.
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Meanwhile, Lionsgate's new release "The Glass Castle" is pulling in
$4.9 million from 1,461 locations. Those are meager earnings, but
also a low theater count. The adaptation of Jeannette Walls'
hugely-popular 2005 memoir mostly appealed to women, who made up 80%
of the audience. Audiences have been generally receptive, earning
the movie an A- CinemaScore, while critics are more mixed (50% of
RottenTomatoes). Brie Larson reunited with "Short Term 12" director
Destin Daniel Cretton for the project, which also stars Naomi Watts
and Woody Harrelson.
In limited release, Paramount's "An Inconvenient Sequel" added 376
theaters this weekend for a total of 556 where it's expected to make
$800,000. TWC expanded Taylor Sheridan's "Wind River" to 45
locations, where it is earning $642,067 -- the studio plans to
continue the film's expansion to between 600 and 700 locations next
weekend. Neon's "Ingrid Goes West," starring Aubrey Plaza and
Elizabeth Olsen, should make $141,216 from just three locations. And
A24's Robert Pattinson-starrer "Good Time" is opening in four
theaters to $137,625.
This time last year, "Suicide Squad" suffered a steep second weekend
drop to $43.5 million. But that is still more than this weekend's
winner. And while Disney's "Pete's Dragon" faltered, Sony's "Sausage
Party" surprised with $34.3 million, or about the same as
"Annabelle: Creation" this year. That is to say, the box office
continues to slip behind, and the summer of hell is only getting
hotter.
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