‘The Nun’ Conjures Up Franchise Best $53.5 Million At The Box Office

People really do love demon nuns, huh?

Everyone knew that “The Nun” was going to be the #1 movie this weekend, but no one expected just how well it would do. The fifth film in the ‘Conjuring’ cinematic universe earned a franchise-best $53.5 million over the three-day weekend. That’s right, “The Nun” not only beat the opening weekends of every film in “The Conjuring” but it wasn’t even close. The previous weekend best for the franchise was “The Conjuring’s” 2013 $41.8 million debut.

The story is even better worldwide, where “The Nun” pulled in an incredible $77.5 million. That gives the spin-off a whopping $131 million worldwide debut frame. Not bad for a film with a reported $22 million budget. Also, it’s impressive considering the horror film was ravaged by critics (a current 28% on Rotten Tomatoes) and surveyors only gave the film a C Cinemascore. Granted, the C score is hardly alarming, as many horror films fall in the C to D range.

The other major debut this weekend was the “Definitely, not the ‘Punisher,’ we swear!” Jennifer Garner action film, “Peppermint.” The film debuted with a decent $13 million in its opening weekend, which is good for a #3 showing. With a reported budget of $25 million, the film will have to rely on word-of-mouth to stay relevant in the coming weeks. With a dismal 13% on Rotten Tomatoes, STX is hoping that the B+ Cinemascore will carry the film through the rest of its run as it attempts to become profitable.

The big end-of-summer hit, “Crazy Rich Asians,” held strong again with a $13.6 million frame and a #2 weekend. This puts the massive rom-com hit at a domestic total of $136 million after 4 weeks. As for the rest of the top 10, there were a couple standouts this weekend. “Mission: Impossible — Fallout,” with the help of another massive weekend in China, topped the previous franchise record of $694 million with a worldwide total of $726 million. Next weekend, the Tom Cruise spy film will most likely surpass “Mission: Impossible II” to become the biggest film in the franchise, domestically, as well.

READ MORE: ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ Dominates Final Weekend Of Summer Box Office As Milestones Are Crossed

Also of note, John Cho’s mystery thriller, “Searching,” had another strong weekend, only dropping 25.6%, with a $4.5 million weekend. The micro-budget film continues it’s surprisingly great box office run with a $14 million domestic total.

There was a third wide release this weekend, but it failed to make the top 10. “God Bless the Broken Road,” the latest faith-based film to hit theaters, posted a disappointing $1.6 million in its first weekend. The film comes from “God’s Not Dead” filmmaker Harold Cronk, and is based/inspired by some sort of country music song. Either way, the film proves that faith-based films, while having a recent history of strong performances at the box office, are hardly sure bets, and definitely do best around some sort of religious holiday. Interestingly enough, Cronk has another brand-new film hitting theaters next weekend with “Unbroken: Path to Redemption,” the faith-based sequel to the Angelina Jolie directed “Unbroken.”

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Next weekend should be interesting, as “The Nun” looks to contend with the likes of Shane Black’s controversial “The Predator,” Paul Feig’s decidedly serious “A Simple Favor,” and Matthew McConaughey’s Oscar-hopeful “White Boy Rick.”

Here’s the rest of the top 10 for September 7 to September 9:

1. The Nun — $53.5M (Debut)
2. Crazy Rich Asians — $13.6M ($136M Overall)
3. Peppermint — $13M (Debut)
4. The Meg — $6M ($132M)
5. Searching — $4.5M ($14M)
6. Mission: Impossible — Fallout — $3.8M ($212M)
7. Disney’s Christopher Robin — $3.2M ($92M)
8. Operation Finale — $3M (14M)
9. Alpha — $2.5M ($32M)
10. BlacKkKlansman — $1.6M ($43M)