‘Conjuring 2’ wins the weekend, but all eyes are on China box office returns for ‘Warcraft’

Though Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema’s ’“The Conjuring 2” ghosted all of its competition at the weekend box office, all eyes are on the performance of Universal Pictures and Legendary Pictures’ “Warcraft.” Though the video game adaptation grossed only a modest sum in the U.S and Canada, given its hefty production budget, the picture’s international numbers wildly make up for it.

“Warcraft” grossed an estimated $24.4 million in ticket sales in the U.S., coming in just shy of analyst projections of $25 million and taking the second place spot. The film has a $160 million price tag attached to it, proving that film adaptations of massively popular video games (the multiplayer strategy game “World of Warcraft” is produced by Irvine-headquartered publisher Blizzard Entertainment) are still a tough sell in the U.S.

Reviews have been decidedly negative for the picture. As of Sunday, only 27% of Rotten Tomatoes critics favored it, though up from the paltry 16% positive rating the film had just days before its release. Audiences weren’t too enthralled either, giving it a B-plus, according to polling firm CinemaScore.

Yet, as is becoming increasingly common as Hollywood adapts to the global marketplace, the movie’s less than stellar debut in the U.S. is only part of the story.

“What we’re happy about is the absolute global domination of this movie,” said Nick Carpou, the studio’s domestic distribution chief. “While we talk about the domestic box office, this is a strategy based on all markets.”

Prior to this weekend, “Warcraft” already had $75 million in ticket sales internationally less than two weeks into its rollout. This week, the picture opened in more international territories, the most prominent of which being China. The five-day opening total in the country was $156 million, breaking the country’s record for the biggest weekend ever for an international film.

As Carpou said, Universal was strategic in the creation and distribution of this film, placing a major focus on China, where half of the video game’s 5 million players are located. While the studio is distributing the picture in North America, Legendary and China Film Group are handling the Chinese release of the film, which accounted for almost 75% of the total Chinese box office on an unusual Sunday when everyone was at work.

“Warcraft” marks the latest example of a U.S. flop rescued by the burgeoning international marketplace. Last year’s “Terminator: Genisys” from Paramount was an undeniable disappointment in the States, but a robust international run brought the film’s global total to a solid $440 million.

“You’re seeing a manifestation of the future of the theatrical business where all markets are taken into account,” Carpou said. “While the U.S. remains an important market, it is one of many around the planet.”

The worldwide gross to date of “Warcraft” is $286.1 million.

However, the weekend still belongs to “The Conjuring 2,” which pulled in an estimated $40.4 million in the U.S. and Canada. Slightly surpassing analyst expectations of $35 million to $40 million, the sequel is the largest horror opening since its predecessor “The Conjuring’s” 2013 debut to $41.8 million. It is also the largest horror opening in June, a record previously held by Universal’s “The Purge,” which brought in $34.1 million in 2013.

“This is a terrific weekend for us,” said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros.’ distribution chief. “But the real story here is James Wan’s incredible ability to touch an audience and inspire a mass audience to hear his story.”

Director Wan’s $40-million followup to his prior horror hit has earned generally positive critic reviews and did well with moviegoers. Seventy-four percent of critics on Rotten Tomatoes favored the picture while audiences gave it an A-minus grade, according to polling firm CinemaScore.

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Typically, movie sequels have struggled to measure up to the originals at the box office. Though studios have long relied on such retreads to pad their film slates and propel merchandising, this year multiple follow-ups have underwhelmed. The most recent examples of this, now termed “sequelitis,” include Paramount’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows,” Walt Disney Co.’s “Alice Through the Looking Glass” and Universal’s “Neighbors 2” and “The Huntsman: Winter’s War.” “The Conjuring 2” appears to dispel some of that belief, coming in less than $2 million behind the original.

“It’s all about content. When you look at a blip of a couple movies not working, it has to do with that property itself and the prior iterations,” Goldstein said. “In this story, there was a huge interest and James Wan delivered.”

The original “Conjuring” ended its strong run with $137 million in the U.S. and Canada.

In third place was another sequel, “Now You See Me 2,” which brought in $23 million domestically. The Lionsgate followup to the 2013 sleeper hit about a team of criminal magicians just met the lower end of analyst expectations of $23 million to $25 million.

“This is very satisfying,” said Richie Fay, one of the studio’s domestic distribution chiefs. “We had a feeling that it would hold up.”

This is a similar opening to its predecessor, which went on to take in $117 million domestically, Fay continued.

“We’ve got the tetanus shot for sequelitis,” he said.

The film cost about $90 million to make; critics and audiences appear split on their receipt of the picture. While moviegoers gave it an A-minus CinemaScore, only 36% of Rotten Tomatoes critics rated it favorably.

Internationally, “Now You See Me 2” has grossed $22.8 million, making it a worldwide total of $45.8 million.

“Turtles” took the fourth spot in its second week with $14.8 million. The picture’s gross to date is estimated at $61 million.

Rounding out the top five was Fox’s “X-Men: Apocalypse” with $10 million in its third week. The sequel has grossed $136.4 million to date.

Of note from other holdovers is the 51% drop, according to tracking company comScore, of Warner Bros.’ “Me Before You.” In its second week, the film pulled in just $9.2 million after a surprising and expectations-surpassing $18.3-million debut. Audiences might have been turned off in part due to complaints raised by disability activists about a lead role of a disabled character being played by the able-bodied Sam Claflin.

Next week, the new wide releases of Disney’s “Finding Dory” and Warner Bros.’ “Central Intelligence” will battle for the box office crown.

Get your life! Follow me on Twitter: @TrevellAnderson.

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