LOS ANGELES -- Warner Bros. dominated the top five spots of last weekend's box office (and three of the top five), marking its fifth consecutive week at the top of the charts.
"It's extraordinary, I want to do it all the time," said Jeff Goldstein, the studio's distribution chief.
In first place, New Line Cinema's horror spinoff The Nun, based on a character introduced in the successful Conjuring franchise, opened with a series-best $53.8 million, according to figures from measurement firm ComScore.
The picture, which cost about $22 million to make, came in well above analyst predictions of $36 million, a strong start for the fall movie season. "I think it's the subject matter," Goldstein said. "... Nuns are scary."
He attributed the success in part to a large turnout by historically Catholic Hispanic audiences. "It was higher on this movie dramatically than the other movies in this series," Goldstein said. "We had a 35 percent share of Hispanic audiences, as opposed to The Conjuring, which was 17 percent, Conjuring 2 was 28 percent, Annabelle, 22 percent, and Annabelle 2, 26 percent."
The Conjuring, released in 2013, and its spinoffs have proved highly profitable at the box office, grossing upward of $1.2 billion so far. Loosely based on the investigations of demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, the latest movie expands on the history of a monster first introduced in The Conjuring 2.
Despite the huge success of The Nun, it is the second in the series to receive a low mark on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, with a 28 percent rotten score. It also got a C rating from audiences on CinemaScore. Despite this, Goldstein doesn't rule out the possibility of a sequel. "I don't know for sure, but I would guess it, I would advocate for it," he said.
Two of the studio's other movies landed among the top five: In third place, Crazy Rich Asians added $13.1 million in its fourth weekend. And giant shark movie The Meg, now in its fifth weekend, added about $6 million, landing at No. 4.
Warner Bros.' winning streak comes less than a year after its big budget superhero team-up Justice League disappointed at the box office. "There's no question it's always about content and if they're good movies," Goldstein said of this year's contrasting result. "If we figure out a way to attract an audience that is interested in our content, then we'll be successful. And absent that, we won't be."
At No. 2, STX Entertainment's Jennifer Garner-led action thriller Peppermint earned $13.4 million.
Garner stars as a woman out for vengeance after her husband and daughter are gunned down in front of her. The film, directed by Taken director Pierre Morel, came in within predictions of $10 million to $15 million. It earned mixed reviews from audiences and critics with a B-plus rating on CinemaScore and a 13 percent rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
In fifth place, Columbia's Searching, now in its third weekend, added 802 theaters and about $4.6 million, a killer hold for a film initially released on limited screens.
In limited release, Freestyle Releasing opened faith-based drama God Bless the Broken Road with about $1.4 million, below expectations of $4 million. The film earned negative reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 13 percent rotten rating.
Today, Fox opens the sci-fi action sequel The Predator, Lionsgate reveals the thriller A Simple Favor, Pure Flix debuts the drama Unbroken: Path to Redemption and Studio 8 unveils the crime drama White Boy Rick.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by comScore:
The Nun, Warner Bros., $53,807,379, 3,876 locations, $13,882 average, $53,807,379, 1 week.
Peppermint, STX Entertainment, $13,423,255, 2,980 locations, $4,504 average, $13,423,255, 1 week.
Crazy Rich Asians, Warner Bros., $13,148,404, 3,865 locations, $3,402 average, $135,770,569, 4 weeks.
The Meg, Warner Bros., $6,094,327, 3,511 locations, $1,736 average, $131,637,101, 5 weeks.
Searching, Columbia, $4,570,235, 2,009 locations, $2,275 average, $14,366,365, 3 weeks.
Mission: Impossible -- Fallout, Paramount, $3,885,798, 2,334 locations, $1,665 average, $212,202,565, 7 weeks.
Christopher Robin, Disney, $3,404,931, 2,518 locations, $1,352 average, $91,934,021, 6 weeks.
Operation Finale, MGM, $2,871,184, 1,818 locations, $1,579 average, $13,935,630, 2 weeks.
BlacKkKlansman, Focus Features, $2,609,915, 1,547 locations, $1,687 average, $43,498,445, 5 weeks.
Alpha, Columbia, $2,517,768, 2,521 locations, $999 average, $32,460,286, 4 weeks.
God Bless the Broken Road, Freestyle Releasing, $1,386,254, 1,272 locations, $1,090 average, $1,386,254, 1 week.
Incredibles 2, Disney, $1,352,194, 1,446 locations, $935 average, $604,465,699, 13 weeks.
Mile 22, STX Entertainment, $1,206,503, 1,802 locations, $670 average, $35,111,649, 4 weeks.
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, Columbia, $1,121,921, 1,012 locations, $1,109 average, $164,233,534, 9 weeks.
The Happytime Murders, STX Entertainment, $1,082,377, 1,839 locations, $589 average, $20,027,804, 3 weeks.
Slender Man, Columbia, $838,526, 983 locations, $853 average, $29,692,608, 5 weeks.
Kin, Lionsgate, $804,401, 2,141 locations, $376 average, $5,318,012, 2 weeks.
Ya Veremos, Lionsgate, $767,346, 369 locations, $2,080 average, $3,312,383, 2 weeks.
Juliet, Naked, Roadside Attractions, $642,022, 467 locations, $1,375 average, $2,429,485, 4 weeks.
The Wife, Sony Pictures Classics, $639,857, 153 locations, $4,182 average, $1,964,144, 4 weeks.
MovieStyle on 09/14/2018