I’ll be brief with this since we’ll look at the weekend numbers more closely tomorrow morning and Monday afternoon, but James Wan‘s new horror film The Conjuring managed a massive $17 million on Friday, putting it nearly $11 million ahead of its closest competitor for the day.
The total includes $3.3 million from Thursday night showings and while that’s $100,000 less than The Purge received earlier this year, compare The Conjuring‘s “A-” CinemaScore to The Purge‘s “C” and already you’re seeing signs it’s destined to have much better legs, likely to the tune of $36-$40 million for the three-day weekend.
In second is Dreamworks’ Turbo, which opened on Wednesday and brought in an estimated $6.5 million on Friday. Not exactly stellar numbers and not exactly a surprise as family’s have had Monsters University and the massive success of Despicable Me 2 (which looks to finish second this weekend) in recent weeks. Of course, Turbo did enjoy an “A” CinemaScore from opening night audiences so perhaps this one will make more over the long haul rather than big numbers right away. I’m sure Dreamworks and distributor Fox hope so.
Red 2 brought in an estimated $6.3 million and a “B+” CinemaScore. The opening day is $1 million less than the 2010 original, but that original stayed in theaters for quite some time so the fate of this one is yet to be decided as this weekend it’s looking at something around $17-18 million.
Universal kept R.I.P.D. hidden from critics until the last minute and audiences have remained hidden from screenings of the film as it only mustered up $4.8 million and probably something like a $13 million opening or maybe even less considering the “C+” CinemaScore isn’t going to encourage positive word of mouth.
Finally, last week’s #1, Grown Ups 2 fell 60% for a $6.4 million Friday and Guillermo del Toro‘s Pacific Rim dropped 67% on its second Friday to the tune of $4.7 million.
The top ten is listed below and I’ll be back tomorrow with the weekend estimates and to see how you did on your predictions.
- The Conjuring – $17 million
- Despicable Me 2 – $7.5 million
- Turbo – $6.5 million
- Grown Ups 2 – $6.4 million
- Red 2 – $6.3 million
- R.I.P.D. – $4.8 million
- Pacific Rim – $4.7 million
- The Heat – $2.8 million
- Monsters University – $1.5 million
- The Lone Ranger – $1.2 million
