‘The Conjuring: Last Rites’ summons mighty £6.8m opening at UK-Ireland box office | News

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Warner Bros’ The Conjuring: Last Rites was the standout performer at the UK-Ireland box office across the weekend, grossing £6.8m from 612 sites in its opening weekend, for an impressive site average of £11,111.

This exceeds previous films in the Conjuring franchise.The Conjuring  opened in 2013 with £2.2m from 371 venues. The second, 2016’s The Conjuring 2 launched with £2.8m from 504 sites, and was followed by The Devil Made Me Do It in 2021, opening to £1.9m from 475 venues.

The film has also had an exceptional opening weekend internationally, bringing in $104m from 66 international markets and $83m in North America, making it the biggest international opening for a horror film of all time (beating $92m achieved in 2019 for It: Chapter Two, also from Warner Bros and New Line).

Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga return as the paranormal investigators travel to Pennsylvania to rid a demon from a family’s home. Michael Chaves directs, who also helmedThe Devil Made Me Do It.

In its second weekend, Disney’s The Roses  added £1.5m, a 31% drop on its opening, for a total of £5.4m, with some venues still to report.

Warner Bros’ Weapons added £374,206 in its fifth weekend, bringing its total up to £11.2m.

Disney’s Freakier Friday dropped 52% in its fifth weekend, grossing £355,281, for an overall figure of £8.2m.

Universal’sThe Bad Guys 2 dropped 59% in its seventh session, grossing £330,563, for a total to-date of £12.7m.

Sony’s Caught Stealing added £304,824 in its second weekend, now with a £1.2m total.

Disney’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps brought in £213,774, a 58% drop on the previous weekend, for a total of £23.6m after seven weekends on release.

The second weekend of Universal’s 50th anniversary re-release of Jaws dropped 87%, bringing in £159,455, for a cumulative figure of £1.8m.

Universal’s Honey Don’t!, directed by Ethan Coen, opened to £158,135 from 387 locations, for a site average of £409. This rises to £168,844 including previews. Margaret Qualley, Aubrey Plaza and Chris Evans star in the crime comedy about a small-town private investigator who delves into a series of strange deaths tied to a mysterious church.

Sony’s Materialists added £141,366 on its fourth session, now totalling £3.7m.

Paramount’s The Naked Gun topped up £112,000 in its sixth weekend, now totalling £7.4m.

Universal’s 10th weekend on release of Jurassic World Rebirth  brought in £108,045, a 60% drop on the previous session. Its total is £35.8m. 

Bakrania Media’s Indian action thrillerBaaghi 4, directed by A. Harsha in his Hindi film debut, opened to £84,963 from 129 locations, for a site average of £659.

Paramount’s The Smurfs grossed £75,000 in its seventh weekend, now on a £5.5m total.

Warner Bros’ Superman added £64,916 in its ninth weekend, boosting its total to just shy of £28m.

Park Circus’ Jumanji 30th anniversary re-release grossed £40,747 from 287 sites, for an average of £142.

Festival titles  

Altitude’s Cork-set care system drama Christy, which world premiered at the Berlinale ahead of playing at Karlovy Vary, Galway and Edinburgh, brought in £30,485 from its first weekend of full release across the UK and Ireland, from 67 sites, for a location average of £455. The Brendan Canty-directed film’s total is now £93,607, including box office reports from its August 26 Ireland release, led by Wildcard. 

Sony’s 1950s-set noir-western On Swift Horses, directed by Daniel Minahan, grossed £16,478 from 203 venues, for a site average of £81. The Toronto 2024 premiere stars Jacob Elordi, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Will Poulter.

Sean Ellis’ boxing drama The Cut, which also world premiered at Toronto in 2024 and stars Orlando Bloom, opened to £10,415 for Altitude from 118 sites, for a location average of £88. 

Also out this weekend was A24 and Apple’s release of Spike Jonze’s Cannes premiere Highest 2 Lowest, starring Denzel Washington, for an awards-qualifying release.