Weekend Box Office: The Nun II narrowly defeats Haunting in Venice

It was a hard fought battle, but it appears The Nun II has won her fight against the famed detective Hercule Poirot with an estimated $14.7 million which represents a 55% slide from its opening weekend. With a running domestic total of $56.5 million and a worldwide total of nearly $160 million, I think it is safe to say that this $38.5 million budgeted continuation of The Conjuring Universe is a success.

Kenneth Branagh’s third go round as the mustachioed sleuth in A Haunting in Venice sadly could not hit the number one spot the way the previous film did, however it did come in higher than Nile with a reported $14.5 million opening against that films $12.8 million. Of course that film had a troubled road to get to the big screen, such as a global pandemic that people were still weary of and a lead star that people were also a bit weary of. While Haunting’s debut falls in line with our predictions from Thursday, it is still a bit of a soft opening for the franchise.

For his part, Kenneth Branagh crafted a solid third chapter to his Agatha Christie trilogy with A Haunting in Venice pulling in the best reviews of the series. For my money, the first film, Murder on the Orient Express is the best of the three films as it boasted a mystery and solution that had me on the edge of my seat the entire film. I did enjoy both Death on the Nile and A Haunting in Venice, but I must admit the ending of Orient Express remains my favorite. You can check out JimmyO’s 7/10 review here.

Rounding out the top five are The Equalizer 3 with an estimated $7.2 million added to its $4.7 million as it slowly creeps towards the magical $100 million domestic mark. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 looks to lose 53% of its audience for a second weekend take of $4.7 million while Barbie continues her over two month trend of never finishing lower then fifth place as she comes in with $3.9 million in her ninth week of release.

The bottom of the chart isn’t looking much different than previous weeks with the record breaking Indian film Jawan seeing a 59% decline in its second week of domestic release for a weekend take of $2.49 million. Blue Beetle took in $2.47 million with a running total of $67.2 million, nearly $100 million less than Black Adam had at similar points in their respective runs while Gran Turismo sadly has not made a run for it at the box office as it comes in eighth place with $2.3 million and a lackluster $39.4 million domestic total, that is a shame because the movie is actually really good. On the flip side of that is the best movie of the year Oppenheimer pulling in another $2.1 million added to its massive $318.6 million domestic total. If you follow our box office reports with any regularity than you already know how much I love this movie and hope it cleans up during this years Awards season (c’mon guilds and studios, lets get a deal worked out soon so that these awards shows can have proper ceremonies where we can honor these artists.)

Rounding out the top ten is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem with an additional $2.0 million added to its $114.1 million domestic total. The film started out a bit slow but it seems solid word of mouth helped propel this Seth Rogan produced film to a solid finish. Speaking of Seth Rogan, the limited release of Dumb Money was able to secure around $200,000 for the weekend which translates to a roughly $25,000 per screen average. Those numbers may not be setting any records but the point of these slow roll outs is to build word of mouth, and I will let my mouth spread the word: I absolutely loved this film! It tells a story that many of us still have fresh in our mind as it happened just a few years ago: when a bunch of everyday people beat the stock market at its own game by purchasing millions of dollars of stock in Game Stop. It is a great story of how everyday people can come together to take down some unsavory people even after those shady and unsavory people go to some not quite legal depths to ensure they remain in their mansions. When the film goes wide in two weeks, I recommend everyone heading to theaters to see it. 

Did you make it out to theaters this weekend? If so, let us know what you saw (and how you liked it) and don’t forget to take our weekly poll where we ask: What is your favorite Kenneth Branagh Directed Film?