After a year of box office uncertainty and a string of underperforming releases, horror has returned to the cinematic spotlight in spectacular fashion. Leading the charge is The Conjuring: Last Rites, the much-anticipated and purportedly final installment in the decade-spanning Conjuring Universe. Released on September 5, 2025, and directed by Michael Chaves, the film has stunned industry watchers by shattering franchise records and injecting new life into theaters nationwide.
According to Collider, the movie grossed a staggering $34 million on its opening day, with over $8 million coming from Thursday previews alone. By the end of its first weekend, The Conjuring: Last Rites is projected to rake in around $75 million—a sum that not only sets a record for horror films in 2025 but also marks the largest opening in the history of the Conjuring franchise. Estimates from Deadline even suggest the final tally could edge closer to $80 million, depending on weekend performance. The film's Friday haul of $34.6 million, including previews, easily outpaces the previous franchise opening set by 2018’s The Nun, which debuted at $53.8 million.
The Conjuring Universe, which began with James Wan’s original The Conjuring in 2013, has blossomed into the highest-grossing horror franchise of all time, amassing a global box office total of $2.3 billion, as reported by Deadline. The series’ mainline entries—The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2—each grossed around $320 million worldwide, while The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It managed a respectable $200 million in the pandemic-affected year of 2021, despite a day-and-date release on HBO Max. With Last Rites, Warner Bros. and New Line have not only continued their winning streak but have also delivered their seventh number one opener of 2025 and their fourth consecutive horror hit, a feat that has industry insiders buzzing.
What’s driving this surge in ticket sales? For starters, The Conjuring: Last Rites is being billed as the franchise’s grand finale, a marketing hook that has proven irresistible to fans. As MovieWeb notes, this sense of finality has drawn crowds in a way reminiscent of other cinematic swan songs like Avengers: Endgame and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2—though on a smaller scale, of course. The film’s 135-minute runtime, written by a team including David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, Ian B. Goldberg, Richard Naing, Carey Hayes, Chad Hayes, and franchise creator James Wan, promises a fitting send-off for the beloved paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren.
Critical reception, however, has been less enthusiastic. The film holds a 58% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, according to Deadline, and a B CinemaScore—the lowest among the main entries in the series. For comparison, The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2 received A- grades, while The Devil Made Me Do It scored a B+. Despite these lukewarm reviews, audience enthusiasm has remained strong, with Comscore/Screen Engine PostTrak reporting a solid 58% “definite recommend” score. The movie’s appeal has cut across demographics, with 51% of opening weekend viewers identifying as female and 43% as Hispanic or Latino. The best-performing markets have been in the West, South Central, and Midwest regions, with AMC Burbank emerging as the top-grossing cinema at $85,000.
Premium formats have played a significant role in the film’s success. As Deadline highlights, 40% of ticket sales came from premium large formats (PLFs) and IMAX, demonstrating that audiences are willing to pay extra for a more immersive experience—especially for a film that promises chills and thrills on the big screen.
The success of The Conjuring: Last Rites comes at a critical moment for Warner Bros., which has weathered a turbulent year marked by high-profile flops such as Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and Joker: Folie à Deux. The studio’s fortunes began to turn with the release of A Minecraft Movie in April, followed by a string of hits including Sinners, Final Destination: Bloodlines, F1, Superman, and Weapons. According to MovieWeb, The Conjuring: Last Rites will be the seventh consecutive Warner Bros. film to open at number one with more than $40 million—a remarkable achievement that underscores the studio’s renewed momentum.
Other films at the box office this weekend have struggled to compete with the supernatural juggernaut. The filmed version of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, celebrating its tenth anniversary, is expected to gross around $10 million—a respectable showing, especially considering its prior release on Disney+. The 50th anniversary re-release of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws recently delivered $8 million, while director Zach Cregger’s Weapons continues its impressive run, set to pass $140 million domestically after grossing $1.5 million on Friday. Darren Aronofsky’s Caught Stealing and the legacy sequel Freakier Friday each took in just under $1 million, while The Roses dropped out of the top five after reaching the $10 million mark.
For Warner Bros., the runaway success of The Conjuring: Last Rites is more than just a box office win—it’s a validation of their horror strategy and a testament to the enduring appeal of the genre. Despite being promoted as the series’ conclusion, the film’s remarkable performance may prompt the studio to reconsider ending the franchise. As MovieWeb speculates, “Despite being billed as the final film in the franchise, the success of this weekend may motivate Warner Bros to continue the series. It might be time to begin Phase Two of the franchise.”
Behind the scenes, the film boasts a powerhouse production team, with Peter Safran and James Wan serving as producers. The cast, led by franchise stalwarts Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, has helped anchor the series’ reputation for blending supernatural scares with emotional storytelling. The writers—David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, Ian B. Goldberg, Richard Naing, Carey Hayes, Chad Hayes, and Wan himself—have crafted a script that, while divisive among critics, has clearly resonated with audiences eager for a final confrontation with the forces of darkness.
Looking at the broader landscape, The Conjuring: Last Rites is poised to claim the fourth-best September opening weekend of all time, just behind It: Chapter 2 ($91 million), Beetlejuice Beetlejuice ($111 million), and It ($123 million). It may even surpass Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which opened to $75.3 million in 2021—a remarkable feat for a horror film in a post-pandemic era.
As the dust settles, one thing is clear: horror is back, and The Conjuring: Last Rites has given the genre—and the box office—the jolt it desperately needed. Whether this truly marks the end for the Warrens or just the beginning of a new chapter, audiences have spoken, and their appetite for supernatural thrills shows no sign of waning.
