Weekend Box Office Report: September 7-9, 2018

The Nun is terrifying at the top!

Audiences wanted some supernatural chills this weekend, putting THE NUN in first place at the box office with $53.5 million!

The new R-rated spinoff of THE CONJURING scared up the best opening in that series, far ahead of the $41.8 million start of the original THE CONJURING in 2013.

The period prequel, which cost a reported $22 million, also frightened another $77.5 million out of international audiences for a worldwide opening weekend of $131 million.

With a current cumuluative global total of $1.33 billion, THE CONJURING franchise is now the highest-grossing R-rated horror series, topping the $1.32 billion worldwide total of the R-rated ALIEN movies (excluding the PG-13 ALIEN VS PREDATOR) and the $1.23 billion of the RESIDENT EVIL franchise.

The post-Labor Day weekend is starting to become a prime time for R-rated horror releases — last year, the adaptation of Stephen King's IT opened to $123 million at the domestic box office and scored a $179 million worldwide opening weekend.

However, critics sneered more than shuddered at this latest spooky tale, giving THE NUN a 28% average on Rotten Tomatoes. You can creep over to the JoBlo review HERE.

The romantic comedy CRAZY RICH ASIANS was dethroned after three weeks ruling the chart, taking in $13.6 million over its fourth weekend in theaters.

Director Jon Chu's PG-13 adaptation of Kevin Kwan's popular book now has a domestic total of $136.2 million and a worldwide total of $164.7 million (on a reported cost of $30 million).

Opening in third place was the R-rated revenge thriller PEPPERMINT with $13.2 million.

The action-thriller from director Pierre Morel (TAKEN), featuring Jennifer Garner as a woman seeking violent vengeance on the people that killed her family, cost a reported $25 million.

Garner's vigilante justice left critics unimpressed with an average of just 13% on Rotten Tomatoes. You can shoot over to the JoBlo review right HERE.

In fourth place, THE MEG was still chomping dollars with $6 million. Jason Statham's hunt for a gargantuan prehistoric shark has paddled to a domestic total of $131.5 million and $491.9 million worldwide.

The PG-13 thriller SEARCHING was in fifth place with  $4.5 million, a drop of only 25% from last weekend's wide opening. John Cho's online pursuit of his missing daughter now has a domestic total of $14.3 million and a worldwide total of $32 million.

Although MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT fell out of the Top 5, Tom Cruise's kinetic secret agent keeps going and going. With another $3.8 million for the weekend and $212.1 million total, the sixth entry in the series is now in close proximity of the $215.4 million finish of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE II, which currently holds the highest domestic gross in the franchise.

But with a new worldwide total of $726 million, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT has eclipsed the global totals of ROGUE NATION ($682 million) and GHOST PROTOCOL ($694 million) to easily become the biggest impossible mission so far, as well as Cruise's most successful movie ever (the actor's efforts have now collectively grossed over $10 billion worldwide).

In seventh place was Disney's CHRISTOPHER ROBIN with $3.1 million, which brings the PG-rated fantasy to $91.7 million domestic. The $75 million Ewan McGregor/Winnie the Pooh adventure is up to a worldwide total of $142.9 million.

Fact-based thriller OPERATION FINALE was in eighth place with $3 million, down by almost 50% from its first wide weekend. The $24 million Oscar Isaac/Ben Kingsley post-WWII story has a 12-day domestic total of $14.1 million.

Prehistoric adventure ALPHA was in ninth with $2.5 million on its fourth weekend. The $51 million Ice Age thriller from director Albert Hughes (THE BOOK OF ELI) has a domestic total of $32.4 million, and $59.9 million worldwide.

In tenth was filmmaker Spike Lee's BLACKKKLANSMAN with $1.5 million, which takes the R-rated comedy-drama to $43.4 million domestic and $65.5 million worldwide (on a reported $15 million cost).

Outside the chart, the Melissa McCarthy bad-puppet comedy THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS disappeared along with Mark Wahlberg's R-rated action-thriller MILE 22.

Next weekend brings back the intergalactic game hunter in Shane Black's THE PREDATOR, Anna Kendrick searches for Blake Lively in the thriller A SIMPLE FAVOR, and Matthew McConaughey has a criminal kid in WHITE BOY RICK.

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