The Nun II opened at number one as expected and it was right in line with its box office tracking as The Conjuring Universe has another hit on its hands.
The Nun II grossed $32.6 million over the weekend which met its opening expectations. Even though this is down 39 percent from The Nun’s massive $53.8 million opening in 2018, this is still a win because there were a few things working against the sequel. The follow-up had to deal with the polarizing response to the first film which, despite being the highest-grossing entry of The Conjuring Universe globally, was not completely well received. In addition to this, the film’s stars, which include Taissa Farmiga and Storm Reid, weren’t able to promote the movie due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. The studio couldn’t really turn the sequel into a true event so an opening in this range is substantial given the limitations.
Globally, The Nun II opened to $85.3 million, with $52.7 million of that total coming from 69 international markets. This is the second-best opening for The Conjuring Universe after 2018’s The Nun which bodes well for its worldwide footprint. No matter how you look at it, this film will be a hit in the end even if it comes down from the gross of its predecessor. The Nun II earned a “C+” CinemaScore which is better than the “C” of the original and not all that bad for a horror movie. It’s likely the movie will take a big hit stateside with the opening of A Haunting In Venice taking some of the spooky season attention but by the end of its run, I’m sure the studio will see its numbers and think a Nun III is justified.
Dropping to second is The Equalizer 3, which dropped a massive 65.3 percent to $12 million. This is close to the 61 percent decline of The Equalizer 2 in its second weekend but way off from the 45 percent ease of the first film in its second go-round. As the third film of the franchise, it was expected to be frontloaded and it was coming off of a holiday weekend which normally sees sharper declines during the following weekend. It’s very possible that the third film will level off and still be able to gross similar figures to the first two films by the end of its run. The good news is that the movie has topped $100 million globally with a current worldwide take of $107.7 million.
In third place, we have My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 which opened to $10 million. It’s not clear how necessary this third film was because, beyond the insane box office run of the first movie in 2002, the sequel failed to live up to those expectations and the third movie has come in even lower. The first movie was a rare word-of-mouth hit that opened to $597,362 in limited release before gradually going wide. The end result was a spectacular gross of $241.4 million on a $5 million budget.
Before a sequel was made, CBS went forward with a series called My Big Fat Greek Life in 2003 which premiered strongly to 22.9 million viewers. The show received mostly negative reviews from critics and it suffered gradual declines across its seven episodes before CBS canceled the series. We wouldn’t hear from the family again until 2016 with My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, which opened to $17.8 million but only mustered up $59.6 million by the end of its run. I imagine the third movie wasn’t a costly investment but I suspect the film will be a mere afterthought in a matter of weeks. Word of mouth looks questionable with the film earning a “B” CinemaScore, down from the “A-” of the second film.
In fourth place, we have the Yash Raj Films action thriller Jawan, which opened to $6.1 million over 3-days and $7.5 million over four days from just 827 locations. The film played strongly in New York City, Toronto, Dallas, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, DC, and Austin and this is what you can expect from a niche release like this playing in a limited amount of locations. It’s a good opening weekend story but might not be more than that.
Rounding up the top five is Barbie, which grossed $5.7 million in its eighth weekend. Down 44.2 percent, Barbie is slowing down but that’s to be expected as summer has come to a close and the film makes its debut on digital this week. Domestically, Barbie has grossed a staggering $620.2 million and has danced her way past $1.4 billion worldwide.
What are your thoughts on this weekend’s box office results? Check back next week when A Haunting In Venice tries to scare up some mystery and box office dollars.
Hello! My name is Gaius Bolling: movie, TV, and pop culture junkie! The industry has been in my veins since I was a kid and I have carried that on through adulthood. I attended Los Angeles Film Academy and participated in their screenwriting and editing program. From there, I have learned to hone my skills in the world of entertainment journalism. Some of my favorite genres include horror, action, and drama and I hope to share my love of all of this with you.
