The Conjuring 2 tops Warcraft

At the top of this weekend’s box office will be the sequel to James Wan’s 2013 supernatural, “based on a true story” thriller, The Conjuring.

Conjuring 2 sees Wan returning to the director’s chair and Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga reprising their roles as real-life demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren. Horror movies, particularly R-rated ones, often don’t make much money at the box office, and they typically rely on the fact that they are cheap to produce in order to yield a profit for the studios.

Friday’s estimated haul of $13.5 million-$16 million includes $3.4 million in Thursday-night grosses, surpassing the $3.3 million earned by The Conjuring in July 2013. Now You See Me 2 looks to take in $24.5 million on the weekend.

This weekend in the box office was expected to be pretty quiet despite the big-budget video game adaptation Warcraft hitting theaters alongside a pair of sequels. It should earn $21 to $22 million this weekend.

In China, Warcraft is the fastest foreign title to cross 900 million rmb, narrowly besting Furious 7.

“Warcraft” production company Legendary was acquired by China’s Dalian Wanda Group this year.

Directed by Duncan Jones and starring Travis Fimmel and Paula Patton, Warcraft follows orc warriors looking for a new home for the peaceful inhabitants of Azeroth, who are threatened by the invaders.

Refresh for updates Warner Bros. says that New Line’s Conjuring 2 drew $3.4M last night at roughly 2,700 theaters. With Duncan Jones at the helm, I’m intrigued to see what he can do with a massive budget ($160 million), but let’s be honest, the trailers have been terrible. The original “Now You See Me” opened in May 2013 amid a slew of big-budget blockbusters such as “Star Trek Into Darkness” and “Fast & Furious 6”. It was one of the most profitable films of summer that year, whipping up $351.7 million globally.

If The Conjuring 2 and Now You See Me 2 come closer to how The Conjuring and Now You See Me opened, it may be a modest victory.

Two other sequels, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows and X-Men: Apocalypse, round out the top five. Given that the reviews for the sequel are slightly better than that of the original (although still not good), it ought to have a steep second weekend drop, but not quite as steep as the second weekend drop of 56.5%. By current estimates, the film is now tracking to garner a more than respectable $38.3 million haul throughout the course of its opening weekend. Friday estimates tomorrow morning will flesh the story out much more.