The Conjuring 2 took in $3.4 million in early screenings on Thursday night followed by a domestic weekend opening totaling $40.35 million. In comparison, the three sequels that preceded “The Conjuring 2” on the release schedule were down an average of 50% from their predecessors. Commenting on the opening weekend Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, President, Worldwide Distribution, Warner Bros.
Advertisement
This could mean that the Chinese audience are more drawn to epic fantasy films like Warcraft than Star Wars.
The dip for “Now You See Me 2” was more in line with the diminishing results seen from recent poorly performing sequels. As was discussed in last week’s box office predictions article, the sequel was likely hurt by a “been there, done that” mentality among the general public. The bright side is that the film is playing to packed audiences in worldwide territories.
The rest of last week’s top earners drop down three pegs with first-place finisher Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows now at No. 4 with $14.8 million (a 58.1% drop). “X-Men: Apocalypse” fell 56% from last weekend to $10 million, giving the latest installment in the superhero franchise a ho-hum $136.4 million total stateside. It’ll have to double its combined opening weekend take to make any money for the studio. Warcraft did just $24.4 million domestically, but in China it brought in $156 million. So far its scooped $300 million in global revenue including $144 million in China.
Why has “Warcraft”, a poorly reviewed video game adaption, done so well in China? For the supernatural horror subgenre that dollar amount makes it the fourth-highest debut of all time, behind Paranormal Activity 3 ($52.5M), The Conjuring ($41.8M) and Paranormal Activity 2 ($40.8M).
Even Though, Conjuring 2 is a Hollywood movie, it got huge response from the audience.
Advertisement
At least it has performed well overseas however, and has now earned $185.8 million in the foreign markets. Though hardly a disappointment, the sequel has a steep climb to reach the tally of its predecessor, which ultimately earned almost $320 million worldwide. The Finding Nemo sequel is expected to perhaps be Pixar’s biggest opening ever. It won’t break any records and it may not beat the original’s $70 million opening, but it should do fine.
