Who says horror movies only work around Halloween?
The Warner Bros. and New Line R-rated horror flick The Conjuring from director James Wan (Insidious) and starring Vera Farmiga (Bates Motel) scared up a solid $3.3 million from midnight screenings on Thursday night. That opening puts it on pace to crack $30 million through Sunday, which should be enough to top fellow newcomers, Dreamworks Animation’s Turbo (opened Wednesday) and R.I.P.D. starring Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds.
The Conjuring is continuing a trend where horror films are performing extremely well even when distanced from the once-thought safe haven release time frame of Halloween. Universal’s The Purge opened on June 7 and earned $3.4 million on Thursday night, almost identical to The Conjuring, and wrapped its opening weekend with $36.4 million.
The key for these horror films is providing genuine scares, which our The Conjuring review claims it does, and keeping the budget in check. Warner Bros. and New Line spent only $20 million on The Conjuring so they should be breaking into positive cash flow by mid-next week.
Be on the lookout for more box office results as the weekend progresses.
