5 Reasons Why The Conjuring: Last Rites Dominated The Box Office
by Ryan Scott · /FilmThe box office just had one hell of a big weekend. Thanks to the power of The Conjuring Universe, the fall movie season kicked off with a bang as the tales of supernatural investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren are clearly of interest to moviegoers around the world. Case in point, "The Conjuring: Last Rites" has posted a new record for the biggest opening weekend ever for a horror movie.
Directed by Michael Chaves ("The Nun 2," "The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It"), "Last Rites" opened to an astounding $84 million domestically to go with $110 million internationally for a staggering $194 million total. That puts it just above 2017's "It," which opened to $190 million globally on its way to a $700 million worldwide finish. That adaptation of Stephen King's beloved novel remains the highest-grossing horror movie ever made. Needless to say, "Last Rites" is in very good company.
To add some further context, "The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It" made $206 million during its entire theatrical run, which was very much a success given its $40 million budget. The fact that the latest sequel nearly eclipsed that number in a single weekend is staggering. So, what went right for the alleged final chapter in the saga of the Warrens? How did Warner Bros. deliver such a massive winner this late into the franchise's run? We're going to go over some of the biggest reasons why "Last Rites" dominated the box office on its opening weekend. Let's get into it.
There was pent-up demand for a big movie
One thing that strongly benefited "The Conjuring: Last Rites" was pent-up demand for a big event movie. August kicked off with a bang when "Weapons" and "Freakier Friday" both arrived, but the rest of the month was very, very quiet, with Netflix's "KPop Demon Hunters" ($19.2 million) providing a little boost for a single weekend. Beyond that, though, it was a string of smaller movies and misfires that led to a sad end to the summer season.
Labor Day weekend was especially dour, with the "Jaws" re-release performing better than three new releases including "Caught Stealing," "The Roses," and "The Toxic Avenger." The point is, there was nothing standing in the way of the latest entry in The Conjuring Universe. There was nothing by way of direct competition, and we weren't coming off of a string of several weeks' worth of big releases satiating the appetites of moviegoers the world over. Audiences were ready (if not downright eager) for something worth heading to a theater for.
It certainly serves as a continuation of the trend that we've been seeing, with the "eventized" nature of things taking over. Movies that can be effectively sold as must-see events tend to do well, and "The Conjuring" movies have certainly earned that seal of approval from audiences over the last decade and change.
The Conjuring: Last Rites promised an ending (sort of)
When director James Wan's "The Conjuring" became an unexpectedly massive hit in 2013, it kicked off not only a single horror franchise, but an entire cinematic universe. It's very arguably the most successful cinematic universe outside of Marvel's, at least in terms of return on investment and consistency. That led to spin-offs like "Annabelle" and "The Nun," with "Last Rites" pushing the franchise past the $2.5 billion mark globally. It's one of the most successful horror franchises ever.
Warner Bros. has every motivation to keep the series going, but "Last Rites" promised audiences a conclusion of sorts to the story of the Warrens. Does that mean that the franchise is truly going to end? Probably not. Be it with more spin-offs or some other continuation, there's almost no chance that the studio lets this cash cow go. But much in the way that "Avengers: Endgame" provided a conclusion of sorts to a decade's worth of storytelling, this movie promised something similar to loyal audiences. That made it a bigger-than-usual event for hardcore horror fans, who happily turned up in droves to watch Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga do their thing as the Warrens, one last time.
Audiences straight-up love The Conjuring Universe
This may seem obvious in light of a near-$200 million global opening, but it bears repeating: Audiences absolutely love "The Conjuring" movies. The Conjuring Universe has not delivered a flop, with ten movies under its belt spanning 12 years. Even the movies that were, shall we say, not embraced critically have performed shockingly well. (The first "Annabelle" made $257 million worldwide against a tiny $6 million budget.)
"The Nun" remains the biggest movie in the franchise with $366 million. That will soon change, but the point remains the same. That movie, much like "Annabelle," was met with very sour reviews. All the same, audiences happily turned up. That's also because Warner Bros. has course corrected at every turn, with "Annabelle: Creation" and "The Nun 2" serving as big improvements upon their predecessors.
What that resulted in was a franchise that audiences know will deliver the goods; they'll get what they want from the price of admission. The Conjuring Universe has evaded the law of diminishing returns by keeping things fresh, exploring new ideas, and delivering on expectations. That's easier said than done, but this opening speaks volumes about the respect this franchise has earned over the years.
Horror has been shockingly reliable in 2025
In times of crisis, it seems we can always rely on horror to bring the box office back to life. "The Wretched" broke box office records in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. "Weapons" essentially kept theaters afloat during the entire month of August. Now, "The Conjuring: Last Rites" helped get the fall off on the right foot after a very disappointing summer season.
Analysts were sure that summer 2025 would clear the $4 billion mark at the domestic box office, but the final tally fell well short of that number. However, horror has remained strong throughout the entire year, with Ryan Coogler's "Sinners" ($366 million worldwide), "Final Destination Bloodlines" ($307 million worldwide), "Weapons" ($251 million worldwide), and "28 Years Later" ($150 million worldwide) all serving as high points this year. "Last Rites" instantly adds itself to that list.
Sure, we've had some misfires along the way, such as "M3GAN 2.0," but the hits far outweigh the misses. More than that, the sheer size of the hits is staggering. If things go well, "Last Rites" could take in $500 million or more globally when all's said and done. It could make more than every other superhero movie this year aside from "Superman," unless it falls off a cliff in the coming weeks. It's not always going to work, but horror continues to assert itself as the most reliable genre since the pandemic. It's not even close.
Warner Bros. has been on an unbelievable hot streak
The studio's year may have started out on rough footing with flops like "Mickey 17" and "The Alto Knights," but to say that Warner Bros. has recovered from that rocky start would be an insulting understatement. What Mike de Luca and Pam Abdy have accomplished with the studio's 2025 slate as the heads of the movie studio at Warner Bros. Discovery is nothing shy of remarkable. As such, the studio's handling of "The Conjuring: Last Rites," from making a satisfying movie to the marketing and everything in between, cannot be discounted.
Warner Bros. had set a box office record with six movies in a row opening to $40 million or more. That streak now extends to seven movies. With the success of "Last Rites," WB has overtaken Disney as the top studio at the box office for 2025 so far. The studio has done it with original movies, franchises, big blockbusters, and more. This movie had the benefit of being part of The Conjuring Universe and its success was always presumed, but nobody could have rightfully predicted success on this level.
CEO David Zaslav has rightfully come under fire for many of the decisions he's made as head of Warner Bros. Discovery. De Luca and Abdy were damn near fired after a string of disappointments. But it's clear that they're the right people for the job, in light of this staggering opening weekend. It's clear Zaslav has managed to get out of the right people's way: What they're doing is working, and WB was the unquestioned MVP of the summer. They may well be the MVP of the fall as well. This was the right movie from the right studio at the right time.
"The Conjuring: Last Rites" is in theaters now.