At last, Valak and Sister Irene face off again.The Nun IIhas officially begun its theatrical run, and director Michael Chaves' film is off to a fast start. The sequel to the 2018 movieThe Nunbrought in $3.1 million domestically (perThe Numbers), during its preview screenings on Thursday, September 7. And the latest installment inThe Conjuring Universeis tracking to make approximately $30 million over its opening weekend in the United States.
The Nun IIscared up plenty of business yesterday in 3,200 theaters across the country, but a $30-million haul won’t be able to put a dent in the franchise’s record books. The best performer inThe Conjuring Universe, over its opening weekend, wasThe Nun. Valak’s first encounter with Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) and Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet) made a franchise-best $53.8 million over its first three days of release.
Chaves’ cinematic venture is his third entry inThe Conjuring Universe. Chaves previously helmed bothThe Curse of La Llorona(2019) and 2021’sThe Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It. If the financial predictions come to fruition, Chaves will be celebrating his best opening-weekend numbers directing a project inThe Conjuringfamily.The Curse of La Lloronamade $26.3 million over its three-day opening ($28.6 million for the four-day Easter weekend). AndThe Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do Itdid slightly less business with $24.1 million. However, it’s worth noting that film opened in June 2021 — and faced the wrath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Related:The Nun II Cast and Character Guide
The Nun II Reaches For $30-Million Opening
The Nun IIdropped in theaters at the perfect time to take advantage of a box office still brimming with success.TheBarbenheimerphenomenoninvigorated the movie-going experience over the summer, and the industry would certainly like to see that trend spill over into the fall.The Equalizer 3took full advantage of the situation, and its Labor Day theatrical opening. Antoine Fuqua’s film booked a fantastic four-day with $42.8 million. The action film also had a lot of help thanks to its “A” CinemaScore and an audience score on Rotten Tomatoes of 94%.
At the time of this writing,The Nun IIis struggling with critics on RT to the tune of a 49% Tomatometer rating, even thoughthe film’s first reactions were strong on social media.That low of a score might seem to be a detriment when stacking it up against a film likeThe Equalizer 3, but here’s whyThe Nun IIdoesn’t have to worry.The Nunalso scored low numbers and still made — here comes the pun — a killing at the box office.
The Nunmade $365.6 million worldwide against a $22-million budget. AndThe Conjuring Universeentry achieved that success with some of the most horrifying ratings across the board: 24% Tomatometer rating from the critics and an audience score of only 35%. Now, a low (“B” or worse) CinemaScore is almost always a problem for films outside of the horror genre, butThe Nun’s“C” grade didn’t stop it from succeeding.The Nun IIis now playing exclusively in theaters.
