The Conjuring: Last Rites has biggest global opening ever for a horror movie with massive $194 million total

Update: Variety has reported that the final total for The Conjuring: Last Rites's global debut is actually $194 million (up from an estimated $187 million). This bests 2017 horror flick It's $190 million opening, meaning The Last Rites has scored the best global horror opening ever. Its domestic debut stands at $84 million, with the international figure at $110 million. Original story follows...

The Conjuring: Last Rites has pulled in an excellent first weekend at the domestic box office, netting a series-high total.

Per Variety, not only is that the best opening weekend for the Conjuring movies – beating The Nun, which took $53.8 million – but it's also one of the best horror movie openings ever, behind only 2017's It ($123 million) and 2019's sequel It: Chapter Two ($91 million).

Overseas, the movie took $104 million, meaning its overall opening weekend figure is a massive $187 million. That also means The Conjuring: Last Rites has the best horror movie international debut, beating It: Chapter Two's $92 million.

This huge success is perhaps not a total surprise, considering The Conjuring is the highest-grossing horror franchise in history.

Last Rites is billed as the final movie for Ed and Lorraine Warren, and sees them return one last time to deal with a demonic haunting. "I think with this, I just wanted to return to basics, because we were also doing a very kind of Warren-centric story," director Michael Chaves told GamesRadar+ of the movie. "And I think that was something that you needed to have something that felt very familiar."

The Conjuring: Last Rites currently sits at a middling 56% on Rotten Tomatoes, though it seems the score has not deterred moviegoers. Our own The Conjuring: Last Rites review awards the horror movie 2.5 stars, with our reviewer writing: "Not disastrous but disappointing all the same, The Conjuring: Last Rites commits the ultimate sin of not quite being bold or memorable enough for a final chapter. It's a much bloodier, louder, in-your-face affair than any of the previous flicks, which more closely evokes the likes of Insidious and even Evil Dead; an energetic, fast-paced romp (its lengthy 135-minute runtime whizzes by), robbed of the universe's signature, stylish chill."

The Conjuring: Last Rites is in theaters now. Confused where to start? Check out our guide to watching The Conjuring movies in order, fill out your watchlist with our guide to the best horror movies and the most exciting upcoming movies of the year.