Let the fall movie season commence! Kids are back in school, leaves are turning brown, Spirit Halloween stores are in full swing, and it is time to get audiences ready for the spookiest time of the year. While Hollywood had been trying to replicate the success of Marvel Studio’s shared universe concept, James Wan has lowkey created his own shared universe within the horror community with the Conjuring series and spin-offs. The newest entry in the world of hauntings premieres this weekend as The Nun 2 makes its debut in theaters.
Deadline is reporting that the demon in the habit has opened with $3.1 million in advanced preview Thursday screenings in 3,200 theaters. Although the mid-budget movies tend to become modest enough hits, this entry is not expected to best the first movie’s record-breaking total of $53.8 million. The Nun 2 is still estimated to jump-start its run with just over $30 million. The Nun‘s Thursday previews back in 2018 earned $5.4 million in its Thursday previews, then the Friday totals would bring in $22 million. Michael Chaves, who directed the installments The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It and The Curse of La Llorona, takes over for directing duties on The Nun 2 from Corin Hardy.
The plot is set in 1956 France. A priest is murdered. An evil is spreading. The sequel to the worldwide smash hit follows Sister Irene as she once again comes face-to-face with Valak, the demon nun.
In our own review by Tyler Nichols, the horror film was received pretty lukewarm, saying, “This follows many of the same beats as the original and doesn’t do much outside of what you would expect. The CGI is improved in spots, but some moments will still have you shaking your head. However, if you’re just going into this wanting some tension-filled jump scares and great visuals, there are worse ways to spend a Friday night.”
Earlier this summer, another James Wan horror property recently became the highest-grossing in its respective franchise as Insidious: The Red Door reached a worldwide gross of $188,050,932. This installment left the previous record holder, Insidious: The Last Key‘s final count of $172,811,971 in the dust. That franchise additionally featured the directorial debut of its star, Patrick Wilson.