These numbers are ridiculous. Last week, projections had “The Conjuring: Last Rites” opening in the $50M+ range, but thise numbers turned out to be way off. The film is headed towards a $83M+ weekend, a franchise record. Its worldwide tally was a ridiculous $187M.
Warner Bros is out here having their seventh straight $40M+ opener which is a record, not just for them, but any studio in history. What a turnaround they’ve had since starting the year off with “Mickey 17” and “Alto Knights. In March, the trades had numerous articles spelling doom and gloom for film co-heads Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy
It’s not like reviews have been good for ‘Last Rites.’ To get a 56% on Rotten Tomatoes, in this day and age of studio shilling, is quite something. That didn’t seem to matter much to this franchise’s devotees who still gave it a mediocre B Horror is horror these days, a profitable genre that for many demands the theatrical experience.
While James L. Brooks teased last year that "we'll soon be seeing" Jack Nicholson, 89, act again, and that he was "reading scripts," that idea has now been shut down by his close friend Michael Douglas, 82.