The Conjuring, a demonic possession tale from Time Warner Inc.’s New Line Cinema, opened as the top film in U.S. and Canadian theaters over the weekend, collecting $41.8 million in ticket sales.
The Conjuring outperformed three other major new releases, including Dream-Works Animation SKG Inc.’s Turbo, the action film R.I.P.D. from Comcast Corp.’s Universal Pictures and Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.’s RED 2, researcher Hollywood.com said.
With The Conjuring, New Line is capitalizing on fans’ enduring appetite for low cost horror stories that focus on suspense instead of gore and special effects. Movies in the genre tend to generate high sales relative to production costs. Mama, released by Universal in January, was made for $15 million and had $146.4 million worldwide sales, according to Box OfficeMojo. Last year’s Sinister cost $3 million and generated $77.7 million globally.
The Conjuring was made for about $20 million, the estimate of Box Office Mojo, which doesn’t include marketing expenses.
Box-office receipts are split with theater owners.
The film is based on the experiences of real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, whose work included an examination of a supposedly haunted house that inspired the movie The Amityville Horror. In The Conjuring, based on one of their earlier investigations, the couple look into reports of a malevolent presence in a secluded Rhode Island farmhouse.
Patrick Wilson plays Ed Warren and Vera Farmiga is featured as Lorraine. Lorraine Warren was a consultant for the movie, according to production materials from New Line, part of the Warner Bros.unit. The picture was forecast to take in about $34 million this past weekend, the estimate of researcher Boxoffice.com.
Turbo, about a speedy snail who dreams of entering the Indianapolis 500, features the voices of Ryan Reynolds, Paul Giamatti and Samuel L. Jackson. The film, which opened on July 17, took in $21.3 million for the weekend, beating the $19 million estimate of Boxoffice.com, and finishing third.
RED 2, which was made for about $135 million, will take in about $90 million during its domestic run, said Ben Mogil, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus & Co. in St. Louis. He previously had forecast $135 million. Piper Jaffray analyst James Marsh predicted a writedown of $30 million to $50 million based on the opening.
The forecast is premature, said Allison Rawlings, Dream-Works Animation spokesman, because the movie hasn’t opened in key overseas markets, including Europe, South Korea and China.
RED 2, an $84 million sequel to a 2010 hit, finished fifth with sales of $18 million. It resumes the story of a group of retired CIA operatives who are forced out of retirement after being targeted for assassination.
Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren and John Malkovich return for the sequel. In the new film, the old friends reassemble to track down a missing portable nuclear bomb.
R.I.P.D. was seventh with $12.6 million in receipts. The film stars Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds as police officers who, after their deaths, are recruited into a special force assigned to protect humans from evil spirits. Kevin Bacon co-stars.
Despicable Me 2, the animated hit from Universal, fell to second with sales of $24.9 million after spending two weeks in first place. The film, released on July 3, has taken in $276 million in the U.S. and Canada.
MovieStyle, Pages 34 on 07/26/2013