The nun invokes a huge opening as rich and crazy Asians grow

"The Nun" (Warner Bros.), the fifth film in the "Conjuring" / "Annabelle" franchise, opened up to an overestimate of $ 53.5 million. This is the best start in the history of the series, even with inflation (the first "Annabelle" earned $ 49 million), and just before "A Quiet Place".

The weekend after Labor Day is often at the bottom of each year. That changed in 2017, when Warner Bros. opened "It" at $ 123 million, and this gross number is more than anything from January, March or even August of this year.

"It" seems to have changed the calendar for good (the continuation opens this date next year). This means that this weekend's turnover has declined less than in the past, although, because "It" was so strong last year, it was still down 28%). Three weeks ago, when "Crazy Rich Asians" returned $ 25 million ($ 32 million for its first five days), it was rightly celebrated as a breakthrough. This number (for the weekend) is double. "It" was bigger than "The Meg", "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again "and" Ocean's 8 ", among other recent successful releases.

How could this happen? The timing, apart from an open weekend, is essential. "A quiet place" was the last great entrance of horror. "Hereditary" (which, like "The Nun", was rated R) did well for an independent film, but its total take was still inferior to this opening. It's a dry spell of one of the most consistent genres.

Two specific elements helped his cause. The series has a good degree of credibility with consecutive entries, supporting above-average interest despite normal slowdowns. Last year, "Annabelle: Creation" achieved something very unusual for horror tricks: it almost tripled its brutal opening weekend, a sure sign of a very positive reaction from the public.

But add its title and that gives an existing popular franchise a new life – and it's not just national. International openings in 60 territories (France, Japan and Russia among the coming countries, China unlikely) amounted to $ 77 million. This for a movie that had a production budget of only $ 22 million.

Warner Bros. held first place for five weeks and the first two four, apparently for the first time in more than a quarter of a century. And they did it with three different movies (Crazy Rich Asians, The Meg, and others). Throw "Ready Player One" and "Ocean's 8" earlier this year, and it's very impressive for a studio that does not have the franchise tents with which Disney and Universal have scored.

"Pepper mint"

Courtesy of STXfilms

"Peppermint" (STX) was the other big opening. At $ 13 million, credit Jennifer Garner for drawing attention to this poorly scrutinized women's self-defense story. It is a modern hybrid production: a leading French actor (Pierre Morel, "Taken"), a major Chinese financing (the usual partner of STX, Huayi Brothers), an American star and staging. The most significant element is perhaps the feminine aspect of history, which shows an increased international interest in variants of the human-centered norm. Most overseas dates are coming, but a $ 30 million to $ 35 million domestic flight will likely lead to profits.

Awkwafina and Constance Wu in Crazy Rich Asians

Warner Bros.

Before Peppermint, ranked second, after three weeks at the top, is the biggest comedy of the year. His 38% drop was the same as "The Help" on his Labor Day weekend. It was a week later in his run, and saw gross adjusted to $ 160 million at that time. "Crazy" continues its momentum to easily reach this level and push back a certain distance. The trajectory aims to reach the level of 180 to 190 million dollars, while reaching the 198 million dollars where the "help" completed (adjusted) remains a lesser possibility.

"The Meg" has dropped more (42%), still respectable a total of three days of vacation. Although it will fall slightly below "Crazy" in the national catches, its global gross of nearly $ 500 million will be far larger. With an initial budget of $ 130 million, Warners is pleased to see this result.

"Mission: Impossible – Fallout" (Paramount) is counting on $ 800 million worldwide, now that it has opened in China. This is before "Rogue Nation" (which he will also adjust at national level). He fell first four for the first time in seven weeks.

John Cho in "Searching"

"Searching" (Sony) in its third week, in full expansion (now at 2,009 rooms), seems to work as the studio wanted: a smaller than usual marketing, built on a limited scale to keep the mouth to powered ear. The average theater was only about half of last weekend, with over 800 additional movie theaters, but the performance is strong enough that the film lasts another two weeks in most rooms. That a studio runs a Sundance movie, less eight months after the festival, is unusual. The fact that they seem to make it work is more important. International begins next week.

The Top Ten

1. The nun (Warner Bros.) – Cinemascore: B +; Metacritic: 46; East. budget: 22 million dollars

$ 53,500,000 in 3,876 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $ 13,803; Cumulative: $ 53,500,000

2. Rich and crazy Asians (Warner Bros.) Week 4; Last Weekend: # 1

$ 13,600,000 (-38%) in 3,865 theaters (unchanged); PTA: $ 3,519; Cumulative: $ 136,222,000

3. peppermint (STX) – Cinemascore: B +; Metacritic: 29; East. budget: 25 million dollars

$ 13,260,000 in 2,980 theaters; PTA: $ 4,450; Cumulative: $ 13,260,000

4. The Meg (Warner Bros.) Week 5; Last Weekend: # 2

$ 6,030,000 (-43%) in 3,511 cinemas (-250); PTA: $ 1,717; Cumulative: $ 1,31,573,000

5. Research (Sony) Week 3; Last Weekend: # 4

$ 4,515,000 (-26%) in 2,009 theaters (+802); PTA: $ 2,247; Cumulative: $ 14,311,000

6. Mission: Impossible – Fallout (Paramount) Week 7; Last Weekend: # 3

$ 3,800,000 (-46%) in 2,334 movie theaters (-305); PTA: $ 1,628; Cumulative: $ 212,117,000

7. Christopher Robin (Disney) Week 6; Last Weekend: # 5

$ 3,196,000 (-39%) in 2,518 cinemas (-407); PTA: $ 1,269; Cumulative: $ 91,725,000

8. Final Operation (MGM) Week 2; Last Weekend: # 6

$ 3,043,000 (-49%) in 1,818 theaters (unchanged); PTA: $ 1,674; Cumulative: $ 14,107,000

9. Alpha (Sony) Week 4; Last Weekend: # 7

$ 2,505,000 (-45%) in 2,521 theaters (-360); PTA: $ 994; Cumulative: $ 32,448,000

10. BlacKkKlansman (Focus) Week 5; Last Weekend: # 9

$ 1,565,000 (-63%) in 1,547 cinemas (-219); PTA: $ 1,012; Cumulative: $ 43,455,000

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