The weekend’s opening of THE CONJURING: LAST RITES kept Warner Bros. and horror at the top of the box office by bringing in $83.0M. The fourth chapter of THE CONJURING series blew past its predecessors, which had until now been led by the original THE CONJURING movie with $41.9M in its 2013 opening. In fact, this weekend’s tally for LAST RIGHTS is the highest for any horror film this year.
This has been a great year for horror from Warner Bros., having landed four first-place scary movies in the 36 weeks of the year. In April, SINNERS was the #1 movie in its first two weekends, FINAL DESTINATION BLOODLINES won in its opening weekend in May, and WEAPONS was the top movie over the last four weekends before being replaced now by THE CONJURING: LAST RIGHTS.
The total box office for all films this weekend was $124.0M, which is a significant improvement from last weekend’s very slow $64.1M but not quite as high as the $147.6M earned last year on this same post-Labor Day weekend when BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE, also from Warner Bros., opened with $111.0M.
This is the seventh consecutive weekend in which the 2025 box office has come in lower than its matching weekend in 2024. After nine weeks in the quarter, Q3 2025 is 15% lower than last year. By contrast, the first half of 2025 was 15% higher than the same 26-week period in 2024. That annual lead has since shrunk down to only 4%.
Exhibitors are looking forward to a promising fourth quarter, beginning with the release Disney’s TRON: ARES on 10/10, Paramount’s THE RUNNING MAN on 11/14, Universal’s WICKED FOR GOOD on 11/21, Disney’s ZOOTOPIA 2 on 11/26, Universal’s FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S 2 on 12/5 and most importantly Disney and 20th Century’s AVATAR: FIRE & ASH on 12/19.
Here is a rundown of the top five grossing films this weekend. As mentioned, THE CONJURING: LAST RITES led the pack with $83.0M. The previous three THE CONJURING films have grossed $847M worldwide, with $99M spent on their production, making for a healthy 8.6 to 1 ratio of worldwide gross to budget. The franchise has also produced three ANNABELLE spin-off features, two THE NUNs, and one THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA.
Those pictures have grossed $1.6B with combined production budgets of $120.5M, for an even better box office to budget ratio of 13.4 to 1. All 10 of these films are considered to be part of THE CONJURING Universe, which has a combined total worldwide box office of almost $2.5B, making it the highest-grossing horror series of all time. All of this has happened in the past 12 years, since director James Wan came out with his original THE CONJURING.
THE CONJURING: LAST RITES is the conclusion of the four movies in Phase One of the CONJURING Universe, featuring the characters of Ed and Lorraine Warren. These characters were based on a real-life couple of paranormal investigators who became famous in the mid-20th century through their involvement in some of America’s most notorious and haunting cases. Lorraine’s clairvoyant abilities are pivotal in unraveling each mystery, while Ed’s strength and spiritual authority sustain them.
Demonic characters recur, most notably Valak, who appears as a central antagonist in THE CONJURING 2 and beyond. The story underscores the destructive force of pride, fear, and doubt within families, contrasted with the Warrens’ unity. While each feature focuses on a self-contained case, taken together they tell a consistent story of good vs. evil and resilience in the face of supernatural horror.
LAST RITES concludes the Warrens’ cinematic journey. The story follows Ed and Lorraine in their investigation of a demonic presence linked to the Vatican. The Warrens are played in all four movies by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. Their daughter Judy also appears in all four films, aging from ten years old in THE CONJURING to her early twenties in LAST RIGHTS.
The film is directed by Michael Chaves, who also directed THE CONJURING: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT, THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA, and THE NUN 2. Unfortunately, the critics are unimpressed with this chapter, coming in with a franchise-low 56% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
As is often the case for horror movies, audiences are more positive with a solid 79% rating. The Associated Press calls the movie a sentimental send-off that blends jump scares with emotional closure. Though slowed by clichés and familiar horror tropes, it delivers on heartfelt elements, earning a modest 2.5 out of 4 stars. Entertainment Weekly praises the emotional payoff of Judy’s wedding finale, spotlighting cameos from past franchise characters and an appearance by James Wan. Cinemablend considers the finale emotionally heartfelt – especially through the Warrens’ relationship and Judy’s arc –but laments that the haunted house plot feels secondary and less impactful than earlier films.
Having an all-time high production budget of $55M for a THE CONJURING Universe movie, Warner Bros. spent lavishly to give the Warrens a fitting sendoff. LAST RITES needs to earn $140M in worldwide ticket sales to be profitable, and after this weekend’s excellent start, it will surely get there. Note that the previous three THE CONJURING movies generated 64% of their total box office from international markets. Here is how LAST RITES compares with the other three THE CONJURING movies.
THE CONJURING: LAST RITES vs. Earlier THE CONJURING Movies
Disney’s HAMILTON, a filmed version of the hit Broadway musical, finished in second place with $10.0M. It has taken a long journey to appear in cinemas this weekend. The musical opened on Broadway on August 6, 2015, at the Richard Rogers Theatre, and over the 10 years since then, all of its shows have remained at or near capacity.
The stage performance has sold $1.1B in tickets, making it the fourth-highest-earning Broadway musical of all time. Only The Lion King ($2.1B), Wicked ($1.8M), and The Phantom of the Opera ($1.4M) have surpassed Hamilton. The story dramatizes the life and legacy of Alexander Hamilton, one of America’s Founding Fathers.
It follows Hamilton’s journey from humble beginnings as an impoverished immigrant to becoming George Washington’s right-hand man in the Revolutionary War, a key architect of the U.S. financial system, and the first Secretary of the Treasury. Lin-Manuel Miranda was the creative force behind the musical, having written its lyrics and score and starring in the title role.
Hamilton is a sung and rapped musical with appeal to a wide spectrum of audiences, becoming a cultural phenomenon as soon as it opened on Broadway. When it came to making a movie version, the question was whether it should be recorded footage of the musical itself or a new, cinematic recreation?
Miranda and his producers decided to capture the live Broadway musical over three days in June 2016, while its original cast was still with the production. In February of 2020, Disney acquired its global distribution rights for $75M, one of the largest single-film acquisition deals ever made. This ensured that the movie would be seen globally, and secured a sizeable financial return for its producers and creative team.
Disney’s original plan was to release the film in theatres in 2021, followed by a Disney+ streaming run. However, shortly after Disney purchased the movie, COVID-19 shut down movie theatres in the U.S. and around the world, forcing Disney to rethink its theatre-first strategy.
Much to the chagrin of exhibitors, HAMILTON opened on Disney+ on July 3, 202,0, where it has been watched by over 22 million subscribers. With both its stage and streaming runs going strong, one wondered whether HAMILTON would ever come to movie theatres.
On August 6th, only one month before this weekend’s release, Disney announced that HAMILTON would be opening in theatres to celebrate the musical’s 10th anniversary. This release includes a new prologue entitled “Reuniting the Revolution,” featuring interviews with the original cast and creators. While exhibitors are happy to have HAMILTON at their theatres at last, its $10.0M opening is only a small fraction of what it would have earned had COVID not spoiled the party in 2021.
Warner Bros.’ WEAPONS finished in third place this weekend, with $5.4M, a decline of 49%. This brings its 31-day total to $143.0M domestic and $251.5M worldwide. Although WEAPONS will wind up with a somewhat lower box office than SINNERS, it will be more profitable because of its having a much lower production cost.
WEAPONS vs. SINNERS after 31 Days
Disney’s FREAKIER FRIDAY finished in fourth place, with an additional $3.8M in its fifth weekend, a decline of 44%. This brings its current total to $87.8M domestic and $142.9M worldwide. FREAKIER FRIDAY has performed as well as anyone could have hoped for, coming after a 22-year gap since FREAKY FRIDAY opened in 2003.
The new movie is already profitable and keeps adding to that number every week. It will also be a perfect addition to the Disney+ catalog when it opens there later this year. The studio is probably trying to figure out how to make another sequel, but they’d better move it along this time, since another 22-year gap would make Lindsay Lohan 61 years old and Jamie Lee Curtis 88. Perhaps hijinks at a rest home would then be in order?
FREAKIER FRIDAY vs. FREAKY FRIDAY after 31 Days
Sony’s CAUGHT STEALING finished fifth by bringing in $3.2M, a drop of 59% in its second weekend. This brings its 10-day total to $14.9M domestic and $24.3M worldwide. This is a rather disappointing result for director Darren Aronofsky, who veered away from his typical style of sober films to make this offbeat action comedy.
We expect it to wind up earning around $20.0M domestic and $34M worldwide, which is crushingly below the $100M worldwide that it would have needed to be profitable. We think it’s interesting to compare Aronofsky’s CAUGHT STEALING to Martin Scorsese’s AFTER HOURS, another offbeat comedy made by a director best known for his hard-hitting dramas.
AFTER HOURS was treated as a very limited release in one theatre in its first week and then 39 for its second before expanding to over 500 theatres in its third weekend. Neither movie was much of a box office success.
CAUGHT STEALING vs. AFTER HOURS after 10 Days
Where Are We as of September 4, 2025
After 35 weeks, the 2025 domestic box office stands at 104% compared to the same point in 2024 and 76% compared to 2019.
