Last week a sequel to The Conjuring was announced, which suggested Warner Bros had an inkling it would do well. They were right, as the James Wan directed horror movie, which cost just $20 million to make, grossed $41 million in its first three days in cinemas to top the US box office.
It’s the top opening ever for an original R-rated horror movie, and more than the far pricier Pacific Rim took in its first weekend last week.
All the other new openers cost a lot more to make, but none of them made much of a dent in the box office. DreamWorks Animation’s Turbo took the number three spot with $21.5 million and $31.2 million since it opened last Wednesday. The company will be hoping that good word of mouth will help keep the gross up over the coming weeks, but it’s not an amazing start, especially as it opened behind the third weekend of Despicable Me 3.
Indeed it was a bad weekend for Ryan Reynolds all round, as not only does he voice the title character in Turbo, but he also stars in R.I.P.D., which became the summer’s latest big budget bomb, grossing a paltry $12 million in its first weekend. As it cost $130 million to make, it’s going to end up losing an awful lot of cash.
R.I.P.D. placed seventh on the chart, and while Red 2 did a little better than that, with a fifth place finish and an $18.5 million gross it still didn’t have a lot to cheer. That’s lower than the $21 million the first film opened to. That earlier film became a word of mouth hit, which should have ensured a good opening gross for a sequel, but it seem audiences simply aren’t interested.
Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of July 19th-21st.
| Rank | Title | Weekend Gross (millions) | Total Gross to date (millions) |
| 1 | The Conjuring | $41.5 | $41.5 |
| 2 | Despicable Me 2 | $25.0 | $276.1 |
| 3 | Turbo | $21.5 | $31.2 |
| 4 | Grown Ups 2 | $20.0 | $79.5 |
| 5 | Red 2 | $18.5 | $18.5 |
| 6 | Pacific Rim | $15.9 | $68.2 |
| 7 | R.I.P.D. | $12.7 | $12.7 |
| 8 | The Heat | $9.3 | $129.2 |
| 9 | World War Z | $5.2 | $186.9 |
| 10 | Monsters University | $5.0 | $248.9 |