The Conjuring: Last Rites has broken box office records in its opening weekend, possibly meaning big things for the franchise. Last Rites is being dubbed as the final mainstream movie in the sprawling Conjuring viewing order. Therefore, what happens to Ed and Lorraine after Conjuring: Last Rites is unlikely to ever be shown on screen.
Although the fourth installment may not be the best of the Conjuring movies, many are describing Last Rites as a satisfying conclusion to the horror saga. Audiences are claiming this more than critics, with The Conjuring: Last Rites‘ Rotten Tomatoes score from moviegoers sitting at 78%, as opposed to the critical score of 56%.
As it turns out, the positive reaction to The Conjuring: Last Rites from audiences has translated into staggering box office results. The film opened worldwide on September 5, 2025, and, in its opening weekend, shattered records. Despite being billed as the final installment in the franchise, the box office success of The Conjuring: Last Rites could lead to some big developments.
How Much The Conjuring: Last Rites Made In Its Opening Weekend
The Conjuring: Last Rites was produced on a budget of $55 million, easily the biggest in the franchise thus far. The film was projected to earn around $50 million domestically in its opening weekend. Evidently, The Conjuring: Last Rites has drastically outperformed what was expected of it.
Domestically, The Conjuring: Last Rites debuted to a mᴀssive $83 million. Overseas, the film pulled in another $104 million. Combined, these figures leave The Conjuring: Last Rites with a mᴀssive global opening weekend haul of $187 million. This already breaks records within the Conjuring franchise, with Last Rites beating out the opening weekend numbers held by 2018’s spin-off, The Nun.
|
Movie |
Budget |
Domestic Opening Weekend |
International Opening Weekend |
Total Opening Weekend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
The Conjuring: Last Rites |
$55,000,000 |
$83,000,000 |
$104,000,000 |
$187,000,000 |
|
The Nun |
$22,000,000 |
$53,800,000 |
$77,500,000 |
$131,000,000 |
Beyond breaking records within its own franchise, however, The Conjuring: Last Rites is smashing past wider records within the genre. The Conjuring: Last Rites’ $187 million worldwide opening makes it the second-highest horror debut in history, behind only 2017’s It, which earned $190 million.
Solely concerning international numbers, The Conjuring: Last Rites‘ opening weekend is officially the highest for any horror movie, surpᴀssing the $92 million brought in outside of North America for It: Chapter Two. Domestically, this opening weekend haul for The Conjuring: Last Rites saw it become the third-best debut in the genre, with It: Chapter Two and It coming in second and first, respectively.
Why The Conjuring: Last Rites Did So Much Better Than Expected At The Box Office
When taking into account what was projected, The Conjuring: Last Rites did significantly better than many thought it would, raising the question of why. A broader answer to explain this could be the overall bump in box office that horror movies have seen in recent years, especially in 2025.
2025 has seen the release of Final Destination Bloodlines, Sinners, and Weapons, to name only a few. All of these movies have exceeded expectations at the box office, providing a bump for horror that The Conjuring: Last Rites is benefiting from.
Final Destination Bloodlines earned over $300 million against a $50 million budget, with Sinners earning over $360 million on a budget of $90 million. Weapons continued the trend, bringing in $250+ million worldwide so far, despite costing only $38 million to produce. In September, The Conjuring: Last Rites continued this trend.
Another element that may have aided The Conjuring: Last Rites‘ box office is the fact that the movie is being billed as the last in the franchise. The Conjuring has certainly been popular since it began in 2013, with many naturally wanting to see how the story ends.
Moreover, Warner Bros. may have figured out the key to marketing movies to wider audiences. With The Conjuring: Last Rites‘ opening weekend, WB becomes the first major studio in history to have released seven back-to-back movies all with domestic openings larger than $40 million. Clearly, the studio’s efforts are paying off, with The Conjuring: Last Rites being its latest beneficiary.
The final reason why The Conjuring: Last Rites may be overperforming is the lack of compeтιтion before it. The film is the first big, mainstream Hollywood movie to be released in theaters since August 8, which saw the release of both Weapons and Freakier Friday. Thanks to each of these factors, The Conjuring: Last Rites became a certified box office hit.
What The Conjuring: Last Rites’ Record Opening Means For The Future
This record-breaking opening weekend for The Conjuring: Last Rites could mean a lot for the franchise’s future. For one, Warner Bros. will likely greenlight more Conjuring spin-offs. After three Annabelle movies and two The Nun movies, The Conjuring: Last Rites’ success has all but guaranteed more installments in the future.
This will benefit the wider Conjuring universe at large, but could also result in WB breaking a promise. As alluded to several times, The Conjuring: Last Rites has been billed as the final installment in the main franchise after The Conjuring, The Conjuring 2, and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.
With such a mᴀssive opening weekend haul, however, it is hard to see any studio walking away from such a franchise. Warner Bros. will almost certainly look into developing a fifth Conjuring movie with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson reprising their roles.
Even a mild box office success for The Conjuring: Last Rites would likely have seen this happen, but a box office smash such as this makes it essentially a guarantee. Thanks to the records broken, maybe The Conjuring franchise is not done haunting theaters after all.
