Moviegoers opted for horror over fantasy and magic during the June 10th weekend, with The Conjuring 2 easily taking first place while Warcraft came in a distant second followed close behind by Now You See Me 2. The Conjuring 2 took in $3.4 million in early screenings on Thursday night, followed by a domestic weekend opening totaling $40.35 million.
The film took in another $50 million internationally.
Commenting on the opening weekend, Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, President, Worldwide Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures, stated, “Once again, James Wan has proven himself a true master of the scare, building an onscreen world that not only frightens his fans in the best way possible, but remains with them when they leave the theater. We anticipate strong word-of-mouth will carry the film through the summer corridor.”
Wan’s 2013 horror hit The Conjuring grossed $319 million during its theatrical run. That film currently stands as the highest opening for any original horror movie, and its overall gross makes it the second highest-grossing horror film in history. (The Exorcist is the highest grossing.) The Conjuring 2‘s domestic opening weekend is just slightly lower than The Conjuring‘s $41.9 million.
Meanwhile, Universal’s Warcraft was embraced internationally, while its domestic box office numbers came in just about where the studio expected the film to place. Warcraft did just $24.4 million domestically, but in China, it brought in $156 million. Overall, Warcraft rang up $286 million internationally on a budget of $160 million (not including advertising). It’ll have to double its combined opening weekend take to make any money for the studio.
Box Office Top 10: June 10-12, 2016
- The Conjuring 2 – $40,350,000
- Warcraft – $24,356,000
- Now You See Me 2 – $23,025,000
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows – $14,800,000
- X-Men: Apocalypse – $10,000,000
- Me Before You – $9,210,000
- The Angry Birds Movie – $6,700,000
- Alice Through the Looking Glass – $5,544,821
- Captain America: Civil War – $4,300,195
- The Jungle Book – $2,721,250
