‘The Conjuring: Last Rites’ scores $187m at global box office; ‘Hamilton’, ‘Madharaasi’ debut in top ten

Worldwide box office: September 5-7 

Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.

‘The Conjuring: Last Rites’ another big performer for Warner/New Line franchise

UPDATED: Warner Bros/New Line’s The Conjuring: Last Rites soared to the top of Comscore’s global box office chart this weekend and produced a confirmed worldwide opening gross of $194m according to updated numbers from the studio on Monday. The horror franchise entry took a record $110m from 66 international markets and $83m in North America. 

The R-rated ninth installment (counting spin-offs) in the hugely successful Conjuring franchise notched the biggest global opening for a horror film of all time, beating the $190m achieved in 2017 by It, also from Warner/New Line, and the biggest international opening for a horror film, beating the $92m notched by It: Chapter Two in 2019. Last Rites’ domestic debut was the third biggest ever for a horror release (after It and It: Chapter Two). 

The fourth instalment in the franchise’s core story has stars Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson returning as paranormal investigators tackling a demonic infestation. Michael Chaves, who shot 2021’s third main entry The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, as well as spin-offs The Nun 2 and The Curse of La Llorona, directed. Original franchise director James Wan produced (with Peter Safran) and gets a story credit. 

The Conjuring franchise, which also includes three Annabelle spin-offs, has always been strong internationally, with the 2013 original taking 57% of its total outside North America and The Devil Made Me Do It 68%. 

Last Rites had the biggest horror opening weekend ever in 17 markets, including Spain and Brazil, and the biggest opening weekend of the Conjuring universe in 41 territories, including Germany, Italy, the UK and all Latin American markets. 

The latest entry’s biggest takes came from local chart-topping debuts of $13.3m in Mexico, $9.1m in the UK, $7.8m in Brazil, $6.9m in India, $5.6m in Indonesia and $5.5m in Germany. 

Last Rites – which will now be chasing the franchise-leading $366m final global gross recorded in 2018 by The Nun – extends an impressive box office streak for Warner Bros, now the year’s top-grossing Hollywood studio internationally (with $2.04bn from US films), domestically (with $1.74bn) and globally (with $3.78bn from US films). 

Warner’s most recent success, Weapons, grossed an estimated $10m from 75 markets around the world this weekend, pushing its global total past another milestone to $251.5m. The studio’s Superman added $1.5m to reach $614.1m to date and F1: The Movie brought in $3.5m for a total of $619.5m. 

’Hamilton’ and ’Madharaasi’ in promising openings

Two other, very different films had strong enough openings to make this weekend’s global top ten. 

Hamilton, Disney’s film of the Lin-Manuel Miranda stage musical, opened better than expected in North America only with an estimated $10m, putting it second in the North American weekend ranking and fourth on Comscore’s global chart. 

Shot live on stage with the original Broadway cast of the historical musical, the film, directed by Thomas Kail, had originally been set to open in cinemas in 2021. But when the pandemic struck it was rescheduled for 2020 as a Disney+ streaming premiere. The belated theatrical launch marks the tenth anniversary of the acclaimed hip hop-influenced show. 

In ninth place on the global chart is Madharaasi, which began its run with an estimated $7.3m from 23 markets, according to Comscore. The Tamil-language action thriller from India is written and directed by A R Murugardoss and stars Sivakarthikeyan, Rukmini Vasanth and Vidyut Jammwal. 

No details of the launch were available, but besides India (where Prathyangira Cinemas is distributing) the film reportedly opened in markets including Ireland, France and Finland. 

Asian, US holdovers retain top ten spots

Several other local Asian films continue to hold up well in the global top ten, with Japanese anime Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle remaining in second place after adding $12.4m to its gross, for a total to date of $282.6m. In the nine markets where it is distributed by Crunchyroll/Sony, the anime took $1.8m, for a total of $45m. 

Chinese heist tale The Shadow’s Edge dropped from first to third in the chart after taking $11.9m, for a $148.8m total so far. 

Among US holdovers, Searchlight’s The Roses slipped from fifth to sixth place on the chart, taking an estimated $8.6m globally in its second weekend, for a total so far of $32.3m. The comedy opened second in Australia with $1.1m (including previews) and was down 45% across its week two holdover markets. 

In the UK, where the second weekend take was down only 33%, the film has now grossed $7.2m. Other leading markets include Germany, where the total is $1.5m, and France, with $1.3m. Still to come are openings in Korea and Japan. 

Disney’s Freakier Friday took $6.4m globally in its fifth weekend for a total to date of $142.9m. 

Universal/Dreamworks’ The Bad Guys 2 added $8.4m this weekend, bringing its total to $191m. Leading territory totals include $25.1m from China, $16.8m from the UK/Ireland and $11.1m from France. 

Sony’s Caught Stealing, which opened in seventh spot on the global chart last weekend, dropped out of the chart after taking $2.3m internationally and a projected $3.2m in North America, for a global total so far of $24.3m.

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