The Nun haunts its way to franchise-best $5.4 million Thursday night

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Haunted houses and possessed dolls have pulled in some big numbers for THE CONJURING franchise, but there’s a very real chance that they could all be topped by a demonic, sharp-toothed nun. The latest entry in the franchise, THE NUN, is already bringing in the big bucks with a fantastic $5.4 million from Thursday shows, and the horror flick is on its way to having the best opening in the series.

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The preview night total for the movie from director Corin Hardy marks a series best, coming in above the $4 million brought in from ANNABELLE: CREATION last year and the $3.4 million of THE CONJURING 2 in 2016. Audiences are clearly craving some demon action as we inch closer and closer towards October, and right now the movie is looking to have the best opening in the CONJURING series with estimates placing it on track for $45 million.

This pales in comparison to the $123 million opening of last year’s IT in the same time frame, but for any other horror movie, $45 million is sensational. The only thing stopping the movie is the current poor word-of-mouth. At 29 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, THE NUN is tied with the first ANNABELLE as the worst-reviewed movie in the franchise, and it could go down lower from there. As well, NUN has a 52 percent “rotten” audience score, and though that’s not as low as ANNABELLE (36 percent), it signals that audiences are nun too happy with this latest outing. 

That opening preview total is no joke and means that audiences are certainly looking for a good scare after a pretty dry, mostly unscary summer. I contributed to the Thursday night total for the movie, and though I would normally share my opinions on the movie at this point I think it's better I keep my mouth shut. All I'll say is if you're looking for some real intensity and palm-sweating thrills your money is better spent on SEARCHING with John Cho. 

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THE NUN is in theaters now.