New Line and Warner The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It indicated  moviegoing recovery over the weekend with a better-than-expected $24 million domestic debut from 3,102 theaters, enough to claim top spot and dethrone A Quiet Place Part II.

The horror pic’s performance is impressive considering it is also available at no extra charge to HBO Max customers.  But studios don’t release streaming viewership data in such distances. (Releasing a movie straight to the home also results in piracy.)

Overseas, the R-rated title took in $26.8 million from 45 markets over the weekend for a global total of $57.2 million (it opened in select countries last weekend).

The Devil Made Me Do It is the third Conjuring film, and the seventh film in the franchise, which also includes the Annabelle and The Nun spinoff movies.

In this latest installment, Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga return as paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, wrestling once again with demonic possession and satanic curses. Conjuring 3 even beat the opening of the last Annabelle film, which debuted to $20 million in summer 2019, although the two previous Conjuring movies came in above $40 million.

 

From director John Krasinski, A Quiet Place Part II dropped 59 percent in its second frame to $19.5 million from 3,744 locations for a strong 10-day domestic total of $88.6 million.

The horror-thriller will become the quickest film to cross the $100 million mark in North America since the COVID-19 crisis commenced; Godzilla vs. Kong now rests at $98 million more than two months into its run.

A Quiet Place Part II earned another $19.2 million internationally from 16 markets for a foreign cume of $50 and a global total of $138.6 million against a production budget of $55 million.

The Conjuring 3 — which had a $40 million production budget — boasts the advantage of stealing away Imax and Premium Large Format screens from A Quiet Place Part II.

Warners domestic distribution president Jeff Goldstein commended Conjuring 3 director Michael Chaves, franchise creator James Wan and producer Peter Safran for building a universe of films that have now earned more than $1.8 billion globally. He also said the box office recovery is gaining force.

“With more and more films coming back to the big screen and theater capacity continuing to increase, the marketplace is ramping up and that means the landscape is becoming competitive again, which is a great sign of things to come in the summer and fall corridors,” says Goldstein.

Younger adults are fueling both A Quiet Place Part II and Conjuring 3, as well as ethnically diverse audiences.

Disney’s Cruella placed third in its sophomore session, dropping 48 percent to $11.2 million in its sophomore session a domestic tally of $43.7 million. The family-friendly film is doing solid business at the box office for a title that’s likewise already available in the home.

Overseas, Cruella earned another $18.6 million for a foreign tally of $43.4 million and $87.1 million globally.

In North America, the new offering Spirit: Untamed opened in fourth place. The DreamWorks Animation and Universal title posted a three-day start of $7 million, in line with muted expectations.

Fast & Furious installment F9 crossed the $255 million internationally, including more than $200 million in China. While a strong number, it’s been hurt by poor social scores and the John Cena controversy.

The action pic hits the U.S. on June 25.

The Wrath of Man, which debuted before the recovery began, rounded out the top five in its fifth weekend with $1.3 million for a solid domestic total of $24.7 million for Miramax and United Artists Releasing, and $86.8 million globally