1. The Nun (review)- $53.5M
While The Nun is the first in what will likely be a hit R-rated horror franchise, it is technically the fifth movie in The Conjuring universe, which has now become the highest-grossing R-rated horror franchise in history. The Nun opened with $53.5M domestic plus $77.5M overseas for $131M worldwide. The $22M budget is par for the course; these movies routinely double or triple their production costs in a single weekend, and from then on it’s all just gravy. The $53M debut charts higher than other franchise’s installments, Annabelle ($37M), Annabelle: Creation ($35M), The Conjuring ($41M), and The Conjuring 2 ($40M), this despite having worse reviews overall. The five movies in total have earned an incredible $1.33B.
2. Crazy Rich Asians– $13.6M/$136.2M
3. Peppermint (review)- $13.2M
The only other big release of the week was Peppermint, Jennifer Garner’s return to the action genre, really for the first time since Elektra tanked so hard in 2005. Her comeback was pretty bland in nearly every respect. Not only is the film a generic Death Wish riff but the $13.2M is about half of its production budget. I don’t foresee it having much of a run before falling off a cliff, so if it’s going to break even it will have to be soon.
4. The Meg– $6M/$131.5M
5. Searching– $4.5M/$14.3M
6. Mission: Impossible-Fallout– $3.8M/$212.1M
Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible-Fallout continues to soar with $726M worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film in the franchise. I guess it’s not ending any time soon?
7. Disney’s Christopher Robin– $3.1M/$91.7M
8. Operation Finale– $3M/$14.1M
9. Alpha– $2.5M/$32.4M
10. BlacKkKlansman– $1.5M/$43.4M
