<I>The Conjuring</I> Haunts Competition
NEW YORK (
) -
Time Warner's
(TWX)
The Conjuring
outstripped expectations as other new releases fell below forecasts this past weekend.
The Conjuring
, following a pair of paranormal investigators tasked with exorcising an evil spirit terrorizing a family, brought in $41.53 million in its opening weekend. Wells Fargo analysts had only expected the film to generate $35 million.
Wells Fargo analysts, led by Marci Ryvicker, wrote on July 19th that "TWX's
Time Warner's strong marketing effort and a lack of direct competition should help take the top spot this weekend."
The Conjuring
is expected to bring in another $59 million over the next 6 weeks.
Turbo
,
Red 2
, and
R.I.P.D.
were the other three major releases to hit the theaters this weekend.
Turbo
, put out by
Fox Studios
(FOXA) - Get Report
, fell short of knocking the animated children's movie
Despicable Me 2
out of second place.
Despicable Me 2
tacked on another $25 million, totaling $276.1 million in box office receipts so far, beating
Turbo's
opening of $21.5 million. Summit Entertainment's
Red 2
and
R.I.P.D.
both managed to be passed by already released films.
Grown Ups 2
and
Pacific Rim
continued to generate receipts, keeping Red 2 and R.I.P.D. in 5th and 7th place, respectively. All three new releases fell about $6 million short of Well Fargo's expectations.
The new films managed to knock
The Lone Ranger,
Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain Myself
,
White House Down
and
This is The End
out of the top ten.
Time Warner's
(TWX)
shares rose 0.7% to close at $62.22 on back of
The Conjuring's
success.
Lionsgate
(LGF)
fell more than 1.4% to close at $32.16 on back
Red 2's
disappointing performance.
Comcast
(CMCSA) - Get Report
, the company that owns
Despicable Me's
Universal Studios, added 0.8% to close up at $44.93.
Time Warner also led the same weekend last year, releasing
The Dark Night Rises
. The Christopher Nolan directed Batman film, starring Christian Bale, generated $191 million in its first weekend.
-- Written by Robert Arenella in New York
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