Warner Bros was on track for another number one debut, as “The Nun” was projected to deliver $53.5 million in opening weekend sales.
“Fantastic … massive” pronounced industry analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “The Nun” gives the universe created by the smash hit “The Conjuring” “its biggest opening weekend yet, and one of the biggest horror debuts of all-time,” he said.
Add in ticket sales from abroad, and “The Nun” was projected for an estimated $131 million worldwide splash.
Another Warner Bros release — “Crazy Rich Asians” — was on track for a $13.6 million weekend domestically. In its fourth week of showings, it has grossed $136.2 million in four weeks.
The action drama “Peppermint” opened in third place, with $13.3 million in sales in a release to about 75 percent the normal number of theaters.
Rounding out the 10 highest-grossing films this weekend, as estimated by the studios and collated by comScore, were “Searching” ($4.5 million), “Mission Impossible – Fallout” ($3.8 million), “Disney’s Christopher Robin” ($3.2 million), “Operation Finale” ($3 million), “BlacKkKlansman” ($2.6 million) and “Alpha” ($2.5 million).