There’s another story hiding within this weekend’s box office reports. In doing some digging, we learned that The Nun, which is currently sitting at $330M worldwide, is now the highest grossing movie in The Conjuring Universe. Directed by Corin Hardy, it was made on a budget of only $22M, which means it’s a monstrous success.
James Wan‘s The Conjuring (2013) ended its box office run with $319M worldwide, while his 2016 sequel hit $320M. Wan also produced all of the spinoffs, with Annabelle pulling in $257M worldwide and its sequel Annabelle: Creation jumping to $306M. These are massive numbers for a franchise that’s built on the lower budget model, proving how important it is for studios to have reasonable budgets in order to set themselves up for success.
It’s in the realm of possibility that The Nun could land somewhere in the $340M-$350M range by the end of its full theatrical run, setting up the third Annabelle for a huge run come its July 3, 2019, release. Waiting in the wings are a planned The Crooked Man spinoff and a third Conjuring film. Wan’s Atomic Monster and New Line Cinema also have The Nurse in development. Not “officially” part of the Conjuring Universe, but produced by New Line and Atomic Monster, is The Cure of La Llorona, which will hit theaters on April 19, 2019.
