The Nun had a scary good opening weekend despite negative reviews

(Image credit: Warner Bros. on YouTube)

published 10 September 2018

Despite earning mixed to negative reviews, The Nun just had a frighteningly good opening weekend at the box office, beating every other entry in the Conjuring universe so far.

The spinoff, which is based on the demon character that originated in The Conjuring 2, earned $53 million domestically this past weekend, outpacing the series' previous opening weekend record of $41 million with the original The Conjuring. The Nun also beat Annabelle's $37 million and Annabelle: Creation's $35 million.

Audiences turned out for The Nun even though the film was not received particularly well by critics — it got a 28 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But the average moviegoer apparently wasn't particularly thrilled with the film, either, as CinemaScore reports that a sampling of audience members from across the country gave The Nun an average rating of C, per The Wrap. For comparison, the first two Conjuring movies both received an A-.

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Still, The Nun is another big hit in a winning streak for Warner Bros., which is also still raking in cash with The Meg and Crazy Rich Asians. The latter film came in second place this weekend and took in another $13 million. This, as box office analyst Gitesh Pandya ‏observes, is the first time in more than 25 years that the same studio had the #1 and #2 movie at the box office for four consecutive weekends.

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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.

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