Demian Bichir is conjuring up a massive haul at the box office…
New Line’s The Nun, starring the 55-year-old Mexican actor, has officially become the highest-grossing title in The Conjuring universe with a running global total of $330Mafter this weekend, besting the $320M worldwide haul of The Conjuring 2 which previously owned that record.
With a net production cost of $22M, The Nun is bound for at least a $100M-plus profit after all ancillaries when you consider that The Conjuring 2 minted close to that figure off a production cost that was close to double that plus $100M P&A costs.
Annabelle: Creation last year with a combined P&A and production cost of $115M saw $306.5M in global ticket sales which ultimately yielded $108.7M in black ink.
Much of The Nun‘s success has been driven by Spanish-speaking markets abroad with Mexico being the top with $21.5M followed by Brazil second with $17M. Spain is up in the top territories as well with $10.5M while Columbia has grossed $6.2M. In the U.S., Hispanic audiences have accounted for close to a third of Nun‘s $109M business where it was a key film for sending the September domestic B.O. to its second-best level yet with $659.6M.
While the Corin Hardy-directed pic didn’t open in any new markets this weekend, it was the top title at the overseas box office this weekend with $16.2M in its fourth go-round in 80 overseas territories and 9,987 screens and running total of $221M; that’s also the best international take for a Conjuring movie ever. France was the top territory for Nun in weekend dos with $2.3M, the No. 1 film in the country with $7.4M running cume. Russia was the second-best market over the last three days with $1.7M in its second weekend at 1,795 screens for a running total of $7.2M.