Three summers ago, The Conjuring became one of the most highly regarded horror titles in recent years with critics and audiences alike. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga return as real life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren and this inevitable sequel focuses on one of their most famous cases circa London in the late 1970s. James Wan, who directed the original as well as the first two Insidious flicks and last year’s Furious 7, is back behind the camera. His history with horror sequels is pretty great. Insidious made $13 million in its premiere. The sequel made $40 million.
The first entry conjured up a fantastic $41 million opening and topped out at $137M domestically. Warner Bros. would love a repeat performance and they may well get one. Even the critically derided Conjuring spin-off Annabelle took in a robust $37 million for its start. One potential stumbling block: competition is a little more fierce this time around with Now You See Me 2 (another sequel to a sleeper summer 2013 blockbuster) and Warcraft (which will be going for many of the same moviegoers) opening directly against it.
That said, I believe the goodwill left over from the first will get this in the same range of its predecessor for a frighteningly solid start.
The Conjuring 2 opening weekend prediction: $42.6 million
For my Now You See Me 2 prediction, click here:
https://toddmthatcher.com/2016/06/01/now-you-see-me-2-box-office-prediction/
For my Warcraft prediction, click here:
https://toddmthatcher.com/2016/06/01/warcraft-box-office-prediction/
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