While other cinematic universes have been stumbling, the films spun off from The Conjuring are humming along nicely, winning decent reviews and box office success. The latest addition is Annabelle: Creation, which offers more details on the history of the possessed doll. This latest horror opened to $35 million, according to studio estimates.
It's another solid scare win for director David F. Sandberg, who made last year's Lights Out and, with more movies coming based on supernatural nasties from the first Conjuring and its sequel, the prospects seem bright.
Annabelle's arrival meant Dunkirk was once again second place with $11.4 million, but that's no worry for the movie, which has been out for four weeks already. Christopher Nolan's latest has passed $153 million in the States alone. At third we find the second new arrival of the week, animated sequel The Nut Job 2: Nutty By Nature, which earned $8.9 million.
The Dark Tower started to crumble quickly, falling from first place for fourth and adding just $7.8 million. With $34 million from its Stateside earnings, the movie is far from earning back even its production budget. The Emoji Movie rounded out the top five with $6.6 million.
Girls Trip continued to do well, earning $6.2 million at sixth, while Spider-Man: Homecoming fell one place to seventh on $6.1 million.
At eighth we find Halle Berry thriller Kidnap, which added $5.2 million, ahead of this week's final new arrival, The Glass Castle. Despite good reviews, it only earned $4.8 million in ninth, though given its more limited release schedule (just 1,461 screens, the low end of wide release), that's perhaps not as surprising as it might seem. 10th was Atomic Blonde, which took in $4.5 million. Thus far, the Charlize Theron action thriller has earned $42 million in the States.