Weekend Actuals: ‘The Nun’ Posts ‘Conjuring’ Franchise Record with $53.8M; ‘Peppermint’ Hunts Down $13.4M

Monday Update: Warner Bros. horror spinoff The Nun earned the opposite of “none” at the box office, arriving at the highest end of pre-release expectations with a confirmed $53.8M.

That’s the highest opening among any of the five films in this decade’s Conjuring horror franchise, even adjusting for ticket price inflation. (It beats July 2013’s original Conjuring for the honor.)

STX’s R-rated action thriller Peppermint started in second place with a confirmed $13.4M. That’s about in line with pre-release expectations, and almost identical to the similar Mile 22 last month.

Freestyle Releasing’s faith-based God Bless the Broken Roadwhile not expected to crack the top five, finished outside the top 10 entirely, with an 11th place opening of $1.3 million.

Demographics

A full demographic breakdown of last weekend, courtesy of BoxofficeProfile by Vertigo, is included below:

Of particular note: Peppermint, despite its female lead, had a 65.2% male audience. That was an even higher male percentage this weekend than Mission: Impossible – Fallout or Alpha.

The Nun‘s audience was 51.0% female and 46.9% under age 25.

Comparisons

Total box office this weekend was $120.5M. That’s up +21.9% from last weekend (excluding the Labor Day Monday).

However, it’s down -26.5% from the same weekend last year, when It obliterated the record for best September opening weekend ever.

Year-to-date box office stands at $8.47B. That’s up +9.8% from this same date last year, even with +9.8% following last weekend as well.

Our full table of weekend actuals is below, after our Sunday update featuring fuller analysis.


Sunday Update:

The fall movie season started off with a bang this weekend, as The Nun blasted past expectations to debut with an estimated $53.5 million in its opening frame. Elsewhere, Peppermint had an okay debut in third place while fellow newcomer God Bless the Broken Road barely registered with a weaker-than-expected opening.

Following four previous films in what is now being referred to as the Conjuring universe, The Nun successfully set a new opening record for the franchise, easily besting the first Conjuring‘s $41.8 million debut back in 2013. It didn’t hurt that the Warner Bros. title enjoyed the widest release of any of the previous Conjuring and Conjuring-adjacent films, debuting in a whopping 3,876 locations for a sizzling per-screen average of $13,803. Its weekend cume includes $4.5 million from over 400 IMAX locations, whose elevated ticket prices helped boost its overall total.

While far from the nearly-untouchable $123.4 million opening weekend of It last year, The Nun‘s total this weekend nevertheless stands as the second-highest September debut of all time. It was helped along by a memorable trailer (which boasted the highest recall of any trailer last week, according to our metrics) and a relative dearth of top-tier horror releases as of late, which ramped up anticipation among genre fans.

While fans certainly turned out for opening weekend, it remains to be seen how front-loaded The Nun will prove to be. For one thing, it garnered a not-great “C” Cinemascore from opening day audiences – by far the lowest of the franchise – and its Rotten Tomatoes score currently stands at a fairly dismal 29%. That’s the same percentage garnered by the first Annabelle, which also happens to have the lowest weekend-to-final multiplier of any film in the series with 2.2x ($37.1 million opening, $84.2 million total). Should The Nun follow a similar trajectory, it would finish somewhere in the neighborhood of $110-120 million when all is said and done, though of course it’s too early to tell how subsequent weekends will play out.

Notably, this is the fifth consecutive weekend that Warner Bros. has had the No. 1 movie in North America, following the three-weekend run of Crazy Rich Asians and the opening weekend of The Meg before that. It’s also the fourth consecutive weekend the studio has had both the No. 1 and No. 2 films domestically, which they note hasn’t happened in over 25 years. That could change, of course, if Crazy Rich Asians is knocked from its No.2 perch by Peppermint once actuals come in, as estimates for the two titles currently have them about $400K apart.

Dropping to second place after a spectacular three weekend run at the top of the chart is Crazy Rich Asians, which dipped 37% to $13.6 million in its fourth weekend release. The Warner Bros. smash now boasts an incredible $136.2 million to date, which already makes it one of the highest-grossing romantic comedies of all time. If it continues at its current pace, it could well end up in the $200 million range, rivaling the No. 1 rom-com of all time, 2002’s My Big Fat Greek Wedding ($241.4 million total).

Third place went to revenge thriller Peppermint, which took in a decent $13.2 million in its opening frame. Among similar titles, that’s about in line with this year’s Death Wish remake, which debuted to $13 million back in March. Meanwhile, it came in slightly below the $14.4 million John Wick opened to back in 2014 and considerably under the $17.6 million opening of the Gabrielle Union thriller Breaking In from earlier this year. The opening weekend audience for Peppermint was 56% female.

The smart money has Peppermint performing just about in line with Death Wish, which had a similarly-dreary Rotten Tomatoes average (Peppermint currently sits at just 13%) and an identical “B+” Cinemascore and ultimately finished with $34 million in North America. A glut of similar fare as of late, including last month’s The Equalizer 2, could have put a damper on this one’s prospects. According to some reports, the budget for Peppermint is in the mid-$20 million range.

In fourth place, The Meg continued its stellar run with another $6 million in weekend number five, giving the giant-shark thriller a total of $131.5 million to date and nearly three times as much overseas. In fifth, Sony/Screen Gems’ Searching brought in an estimated $4.5 million after adding over 800 screens in its second weekend of wide release and third weekend overall. The additional locations allowed the John Cho thriller to ease just 25 percent from last weekend, giving it a total of $14.3 million to date.

Mission: Impossible – Fallout fell out of the Top 5 for the first time this weekend, taking sixth place with $3.8 million in its seventh frame. With $212.1 million in the bank, the Tom Cruise actioner is now within striking distance of toppling Mission Impossible II as the highest-grossing entry in the franchise to date and should do so by next weekend.

In seventh place, Disney’s Christopher Robin added an estimated $3.1 million in its sixth weekend, giving the family release $91.7 million to date and bringing it closer to the $100 million milestone. If it does hit cross that threshold, it would become the seventh Disney title to do so this year.

Eighth place went to Operation Finale, which took in an estimated $3 million in its second weekend. The MGM release dipped 49 percent from its $6 million three-day debut over Labor Day. It now has $14.1 million after 12 days.

Rounding out the Top 10 are BlacKkKlansman and Alpha, which grossed an estimated $2.6 million and $2.5 million in ninth and tenth place, respectively. Alpha‘s total now stands at $32,4 million and BlacKkKlansman has $43.5 million, making it the third-highest-grossing film from Spike Lee not adjusting for inflation.

Debuting even lower than expected outside the Top 10 is Freestyle Releasing’s God Bless the Broken Road, which took in an estimated $1.5 million in 1,272 locations, landing it in 11th place. That’s a far cry from the $17.1 million debut of I Can Only Imagine, another Christian-themed drama based on a hit song that finished its North American run with a spectacular $83.4 million earlier this year.

Limited Release:

Buoyed by strong reviews for stars Glenn Close and Jonathan Pryce, The Wife expanded to 153 screens this weekend and took in an estimated $712,970, giving it a per-screen average of $4,660. Its domestic total is currently $2 million after four weeks of limited release.

Overseas Update:

The Nun took in an estimated $77.5 million in 60 overseas markets, bringing its global opening weekend tally to a scorching $131 million. Totals include $10.7 million in Mexico, $6.8 million in Brazil, $7.7 million in Indonesia, and $5.2 million in the U.K.

Mission: Impossible – Fallout brought in an estimated $38.6 million internationally this weekend (including $32.4 million in its second weekend of release in China), bringing its international cume to $514.5 million. The sixth film in the long-running franchise now has a fantastic worldwide total of $726.6 million, making it the highest-grossing M:I film globally by a long shot.


Monday’s Weekend Actuals (Domestic)

FRI, SEP. 7 – SUN, SEP. 9

WIDE (1000+)

# TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 The Nun $53,807,379 3,876 $13,882 $53,807,379 1 Warner Bros.
2 Peppermint $13,423,255 2,980 $4,504 $13,423,255 1 STX Entertainment
3 Crazy Rich Asians $13,148,404 -40% 3,865 0 $3,402 $135,770,569 4 Warner Bros.
4 The Meg $6,094,327 -42% 3,511 -250 $1,736 $131,637,101 5 Warner Bros.
5 Searching $4,570,235 -25% 2,009 802 $2,275 $14,366,365 3 Sony Pictures
6 Mission: Impossible – Fallout $3,885,798 -45% 2,334 -305 $1,665 $212,202,565 7 Paramount
7 Disney’s Christopher Robin $3,404,931 -35% 2,518 -407 $1,352 $91,934,021 6 Disney
8 Operation Finale $2,871,184 -52% 1,818 0 $1,579 $13,935,630 2 MGM
9 BlacKkKlansman $2,609,915 -38% 1,547 -219 $1,687 $43,498,445 5 Focus Features
10 Alpha $2,517,768 -45% 2,521 -360 $999 $32,460,286 4 Sony / Columbia
11 God Bless the Broken Road $1,386,254 1,272 $1,090 $1,386,254 1 Freestyle Releasing
12 Incredibles 2 $1,352,194 -60% 1,446 -1444 $935 $604,465,699 13 Disney
13 Mile 22 $1,206,503 -68% 1,802 -1148 $670 $35,111,649 4 STX Entertainment
14 Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation $1,121,921 -47% 1,012 -409 $1,109 $164,233,534 11 Sony / Columbia
15 The Happytime Murders $1,082,377 -75% 1,839 -1417 $589 $20,027,804 3 STX Entertainment
16 Kin (2018) $804,401 -74% 2,141 0 $376 $5,318,012 2 Lionsgate / Summit

LIMITED (100 — 999)

# TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Slender Man $838,526 -54% 983 -551 $853 $29,692,608 5 Sony / Screen Gems
2 Ya Veremos $767,346 -57% 369 0 $2,080 $3,312,383 2 Lionsgate / Pantelion Films
3 Juliet, Naked $642,022 -22% 467 149 $1,375 $2,429,485 4 Roadside Attractions / Lionsgate
4 The Wife $639,857 23% 153 75 $4,182 $1,964,144 4 Sony Pictures Classics
5 Ant-Man and the Wasp $619,010 -56% 548 -282 $1,130 $214,822,211 10 Disney
6 Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again $594,885 -53% 614 -396 $969 $119,064,225 8 Universal Pictures
7 The Equalizer 2 $500,678 -66% 646 -830 $775 $101,587,436 8 Sony / Columbia
8 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom $433,180 -72% 579 -977 $748 $415,873,035 12 Universal
9 A.X.L. $296,626 -78% 555 -1155 $534 $6,235,221 3 Global Road Entertainment
10 Teen Titans GO! to the Movies $222,802 -34% 298 -24 $748 $29,111,852 7 Warner Bros.
11 Eighth Grade $165,705 -38% 176 -51 $942 $13,265,352 9 A24
12 Three Identical Strangers $147,957 -41% 132 -38 $1,121 $11,905,903 11 Neon
13 Skyscraper $118,570 -29% 153 -35 $775 $67,571,940 9 Universal Pictures
14 The Spy Who Dumped Me $105,550 -72% 207 -253 $510 $33,325,340 6 Lionsgate
15 Puzzle $93,835 -50% 131 -82 $716 $1,794,430 7 Sony Pictures Classics
16 Papillon $68,605 -82% 117 -422 $586 $2,294,629 3 Bleecker Street
17 Ocean’s 8 $62,780 -41% 128 -26 $490 $139,303,241 14 Warner Bros.
18 The Little Stranger $62,335 -84% 477 3 $131 $675,393 2 Focus Features
19 Perfect Blue (2018 re-release) $19,020 491 $39 $240,987 1 GKIDS

PLATFORM (1 — 99)

# TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Sorry To Bother You $86,201 -69% 72 -433 $1,197 $17,250,185 10 Annapurna Pictures
2 Blaze $62,420 5% 36 16 $1,734 $255,082 4 IFC Films / Sundance Selects
3 We The Animals $51,110 25% 42 23 $1,217 $281,952 4 The Orchard
4 Pick of the Litter $47,807 189% 9 7 $5,312 $70,902 2 IFC Films
5 Leave No Trace $47,188 -15% 94 -4 $502 $5,923,911 11 Bleeker Street
6 Won’t You Be My Neighbor? $41,480 -45% 92 -21 $451 $22,582,312 14 Focus Features
7 The Darkest Minds $39,165 -29% 79 -38 $496 $12,623,974 6 20th Century Fox
8 Uncle Drew $38,396 -39% 79 -13 $486 $42,458,985 11 Lionsgate / Summit
9 Blindspotting $37,678 -40% 44 -35 $856 $4,314,103 8 Lionsgate / Summit
10 The Miseducation of Cameron Post $35,620 -40% 32 -13 $1,113 $838,653 6 FilmRise
11 Kusama – Infinity $30,998 2 $15,499 $30,998 1 Magnolia Pictures
12 Dog Days $30,241 -45% 83 -40 $364 $6,762,129 5 LD Entertainment / Mirror
13 Solo: A Star Wars Story $24,154 -60% 62 -28 $390 $213,741,023 16 Disney
14 Sicario: Day of the Soldado $20,804 -56% 40 -24 $520 $50,043,467 11 Sony / Black Label
15 Avengers: Infinity War $20,297 -66% 60 -32 $338 $678,809,000 20 Disney
16 Beautifully Broken $20,098 -88% 52 -309 $387 $1,170,072 3 ArtAffects Entertainment
17 McQueen $20,002 -24% 15 -2 $1,333 $1,208,019 8 Bleecker Street
18 Let the Corpses Tan $16,830 41% 13 10 $1,295 $52,102 2 Kino Lorber
19 Death of a Nation $16,126 -84% 58 -195 $278 $5,859,544 6 Quality Flix / Pure Flix
20 Madeline’s Madeline $15,850 -45% 31 0 $511 $147,776 5 Oscilloscope Laboratories
21 Tag (2018) $13,810 -77% 42 -31 $329 $54,542,061 13 Warner Bros.
22 RBG $13,665 -38% 18 -7 $759 $13,986,247 19 Magnolia Pictures
23 John McEnroe: In The Realm Of Perfection $11,250 -57% 12 -9 $938 $73,650 3 Oscilloscope Laboratories
24 Cynthia $11,022 -64% 11 -10 $1,002 $52,728 2 Indican Pictures
25 The Apparition $9,830 7 $1,404 $9,830 1 Music Box Films
26 Andrei Rublev $9,204 -43% 4 1 $2,301 $53,004 3 Janus
27 The Cakemaker $9,112 -41% 14 -3 $651 $804,724 11 Strand Releasing
28 I Am Not a Witch $8,252 2 $4,126 $12,191 1 Film Movement
29 Deadpool 2 $7,316 -78% 37 -31 $198 $318,465,878 17 Fox
30 Skate Kitchen $6,423 -55% 16 -17 $401 $219,457 5 Magnolia
31 Support The Girls $6,346 -66% 15 -11 $423 $116,987 3 Magnolia Pictures
32 Far From The Tree $5,938 -4% 6 -4 $990 $153,440 8 IFC Films / Sundance Selects
33 The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl $5,534 -34% 4 -2 $1,384 $390,957 3 GKIDS
34 Memoir of War $5,253 -55% 5 -5 $1,051 $73,247 4 Music Box Films
35 Yellow Submarine (2018 re-release) $4,216 4 $1,054 $963,964 10 Abramorama
36 The Captain $3,803 -30% 5 -3 $761 $100,358 7 Music Box Films
37 Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot $3,460 6% 9 -1 $384 $1,439,175 9 Amazon Studios
38 The Rider $3,330 1157% 5 3 $666 $2,385,711 22 Sony Pictures Classics
39 Nico, 1988 $3,011 -54% 6 -6 $502 $68,107 6 Magnolia Pictures
40 A Paris Education $2,267 -35% 1 0 $2,267 $10,635 2 Kino Lorber
41 The Atomic Cafe $2,003 496% 2 1 $1,002 $18,929 6 Kino Lorber
42 Whitney $1,936 30% 5 -4 $387 $3,023,034 10 Roadside Attractions
43 Nelly $1,304 1 $1,304 $1,304 1 Cinema Libre
44 Le Corbeau (2018 Re-Release) $1,180 1 $1,180 $36,089 21 Rialto Pictures
45 Love, Cecil $759 2 $380 $103,259 11 Zeitgeist Films
46 Custody $566 1351% 1 0 $566 $81,365 11 Kino Lorber
47 93Queen $432 1 $432 $66,163 7 Abramorama
48 Running for Grace $412 -38% 1 -2 $412 $89,118 8 Blue Fox Entertainment
49 The Doctor From India $360 1 $360 $64,392 21 Kino LorberZeitgeist Films
50 Wanda $323 -83% 1 -1 $323 $51,560 8 Janus Films
51 The Third Murder $288 -71% 2 -2 $144 $81,675 8 Film Movement
52 Generation Wealth $246 224% 3 1 $82 $235,179 8 Amazon Studios / Magnolia Pictures
53 Poor Boy $142 0% 1 0 $142 $28,819 9 Indican Pictures

Sunday’s Studio Weekend Estimates (Domestic)

FRI, SEP. 7 – SUN, SEP. 9

WIDE (1000+)

# TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 The Nun $53,500,000 3,876 $13,803 $53,500,000 1 Warner Bros.
2 Crazy Rich Asians $13,600,000 -38% 3,865 0 $3,519 $136,222,165 4 Warner Bros.
3 Peppermint $13,263,000 2,980 $4,451 $13,263,000 1 STX Entertainment
4 The Meg $6,030,000 -43% 3,511 -250 $1,717 $131,572,774 5 Warner Bros.
5 Searching $4,515,000 -26% 2,009 802 $2,247 $14,311,130 3 Sony Pictures
6 Mission: Impossible – Fallout $3,800,000 -46% 2,334 -305 $1,628 $212,116,767 7 Paramount
7 Disney’s Christopher Robin $3,196,000 -39% 2,518 -407 $1,269 $91,725,090 6 Disney
8 Operation Finale $3,043,000 -49% 1,818 0 $1,674 $14,107,446 2 MGM
9 Alpha $2,505,000 -45% 2,521 -360 $994 $32,447,518 4 Sony / Columbia
10 BlacKkKlansman $1,565,000 -63% 1,547 -219 $1,012 $42,453,530 5 Focus Features
11 God Bless the Broken Road $1,562,000 1,235 $1,265 $1,562,000 1 Freestyle Releasing
12 Incredibles 2 $1,284,000 -62% 1,446 -1444 $888 $604,397,505 13 Disney
13 Mile 22 $1,210,000 -68% 1,802 -1148 $671 $35,115,146 4 STX Entertainment
14 The Happytime Murders $1,090,000 -75% 1,839 -1417 $593 $20,035,427 3 STX Entertainment
15 Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation $1,085,000 -49% 1,012 -409 $1,072 $164,196,613 11 Sony / Columbia
16 Kin (2018) $830,000 -73% 2,141 0 $388 $5,343,611 2 Lionsgate / Summit

LIMITED (100 — 999)

# TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Slender Man $840,000 -54% 983 -551 $855 $29,694,082 5 Sony / Screen Gems
2 Ya Veremos $770,000 -57% 369 0 $2,087 $3,315,037 2 Lionsgate / Pantelion Films
3 The Wife $712,970 37% 153 75 $4,660 $2,037,257 4 Sony Pictures Classics
4 Ant-Man and the Wasp $608,000 -57% 548 -282 $1,109 $214,811,201 10 Disney
5 The Equalizer 2 $500,000 -66% 646 -830 $774 $101,586,758 8 Sony / Columbia
6 A.X.L. $286,436 -79% 555 -1155 $516 $6,225,031 3 Global Road Entertainment
7 Eighth Grade $182,000 -32% 176 -51 $1,034 $13,281,647 9 A24
8 Three Identical Strangers $155,000 -38% 132 -38 $1,174 $11,912,946 11 Neon
9 Puzzle $121,010 -36% 131 -82 $924 $1,821,605 7 Sony Pictures Classics
10 The Spy Who Dumped Me $100,000 -73% 207 -253 $483 $33,319,790 6 Lionsgate
11 The Little Stranger $65,000 -84% 477 3 $136 $678,058 2 Focus Features
12 Papillon $56,039 -85% 117 -422 $479 $2,282,063 3 Bleecker Street

PLATFORM (1 — 99)

# TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Sorry To Bother You $83,440 -70% 72 -433 $1,159 $17,247,424 10 Annapurna Pictures
2 We The Animals $54,233 33% 42 23 $1,291 $284,575 4 The Orchard
3 Leave No Trace $45,150 -18% 94 -4 $480 $5,921,873 11 Bleeker Street
4 Uncle Drew $39,100 -38% 79 -13 $495 $42,459,689 11 Lionsgate / Summit
5 Blindspotting $37,000 -41% 44 -35 $841 $4,313,425 8 Lionsgate / Summit
6 Kusama – Infinity $30,400 2 $15,200 $30,400 1 Magnolia Pictures
7 Solo: A Star Wars Story $24,000 -60% 62 -28 $387 $213,740,869 16 Disney
8 Beautifully Broken $21,602 -88% 50 -311 $432 $1,171,576 3 ArtAffects Entertainment
9 McQueen $19,899 -25% 15 -2 $1,327 $1,207,916 8 Bleecker Street
10 Avengers: Infinity War $19,000 -68% 60 -32 $317 $678,807,703 20 Disney
11 Death of a Nation $15,000 -85% 58 -195 $259 $5,858,418 6 Quality Flix / Pure Flix
12 Bisbee ’17 $6,650 1 $6,650 $9,062 1 4th Row Films
13 Hal $5,150 1 $5,150 $5,150 1 Oscilloscope Laboratories
14 Active Measures $2,253 -76% 1 -1 $2,253 $22,115 2 Super LTD / Neon
15 Nelly $1,500 1 $1,500 $1,500 1 Cinema Libre

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