What makes The Nun extra special, though, is the fact that it’s $53.5 million earned in its first three days is a record for the brand.
The Conjuring Universe has been building up steam for about five years now, and at this point it’s probably the most profitable franchise that Warner Bros. has going.
It successfully topped the original Conjuring, which made $41.9 million when it came out in July 2013 – though it’s worth noting that the James Wan-directed feature is still the highest domestic earner in the continuity, with $137.4 million brought in.
One of the benefits of making horror movies is that they can generally be made well with a limited about of money (it’s basically Blumhouse’s entire business strategy), and thus far we have seen five reasonably-budgeted Conjuring-related releases go on to become international hits.