After 12 years of captivating audiences with eerie tales involving vintage dolls and mysterious nuns, “The Conjuring: Last Rites” marks the conclusion of this famed franchise. Starring Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as the real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, the series has been a box office hit since “The Conjuring” debuted in 2013. Now, “Last Rites” has successfully wrapped up this chapter with an impressive finale. Unlike other horror series that falter in their final installments, “Last Rites” achieved the franchise’s highest opening weekend with an astounding $84 million.

Ranked as the fourth-largest September opening weekend in North America and a top performer in 2025, “Last Rites” defied all early forecasts and set new standards for “Conjuring” films. How did this monumental launch occur for the saga’s finale? The success stemmed from various factors, including the franchise’s robust theatrical legacy, Warner Bros.’ notable success with early September horror releases, and the thriving horror genre in 2025. Despite numerous elements influencing this spectacular opening, “Last Rites” thoroughly resonated with audiences.

Although the franchise didn’t produce multiple billion-dollar global hits like the peak MCU, the “Conjuring” series has shown remarkable resilience worldwide. The original “The Conjuring” earned $316.1 million globally, leading to four sequels and four spin-offs, each grossing between $257 and $367 million worldwide. Even with “The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” releasing on HBO Max alongside theaters in June 2021, it still managed a strong $206.4 million worldwide, showing that neither the pandemic nor streaming could derail its box office success.

This achievement is remarkable considering that movies like “The Nun” and “Annabelle” didn’t win over critics. While negative reception can tarnish a franchise as seen with “Terminator,” the “Conjuring” movies maintained their box office momentum. Entries like the “Annabelle” trilogy continued to draw audiences by delivering thrilling scares mixed with emotional depth through characters like Ed and Lorraine Warren, supported by intriguing marketing strategies that overcame any negative perceptions from less favorable entries like “Annabelle.”

“The Conjuring: Last Rites” built on that box office legacy to deliver by far the biggest domestic opening weekend in the saga’s history. 

In summer 2025, horror films outperformed many expectations, with Warner Bros. leading the way. Titles such as “Final Destination Bloodlines” and Sony’s “28 Years Later” found success, while indie film “Together” managed a commendable $21 million domestically. August 2025 brought “Weapons,” a surprise hit expected to surpass $150 million domestically, a remarkable achievement for an original film. This set a positive tone for audiences as they welcomed the fall season with “The Conjuring: Last Rites.”

The successful summer horror slate had audiences eager for more as cooler temperatures arrived in September. Further drawing interest, trailers for “Last Rites” were frequently seen before popular releases like “Bloodlines” and “Weapons.” Horror enthusiasts were well aware of the upcoming film, and the supernatural elements of “Last Rites” provided a fresh experience, distinct from the zombie narratives in “28 Years Later” or the comedic horror of “Together.”

Impressively, “Last Rites” left all of the opening weekends for summer 2025’s horror fare in the dust. However, earlier 2025 horror titles like “Bloodlines” were essential in getting people ready for the Warrens’ last case.

Ironically, Warner Bros. Pictures’ recent fondness for releasing horror movies over the post-Labor Day weekend started with adult dramas. The studio first found financial success within this timeframe thanks to titles like “Contagion” and “Sully.” However, it was 2017’s “It” that cemented this weekend as a go-to launchpad for Warner Bros. horror fare. One year after “It” became the first September release to reach $100 million+ domestically over its opening weekend, “The Nun” debuted to a massive $54 million in its debut.

Since then, Warner Bros. has found tons of success with further frightening features on this weekend, including 2019’s “It: Chapter Two” and 2024’s gargantuan success, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.” Even Disney’s 20th Century Studios used this weekend to get “Barbarian” to a $10 million bow in 2022. Post-Labor Day’s been a fruitful spot for horror films, since it’s the first weekend when summer’s over and people are gearing up for autumn (read: Halloween). The dearth of big movies in late August and over Labor Day weekend also gives these titles extra room to flourish.

“Last Rites” was so big that it likely would have excelled in any spot on the calendar. However, its immense numbers continued the hot streak Warner Bros. has had with a frame previously reserved for titles like “Sully.”

As its title would suggest, “The Conjuring: Last Rites” was promoted as the grand finale to the “Conjuring” franchise. After 12 years of adventures chronicling Ed and Lorraine Warren’s supernatural exploits and related tales, “Last Rites” promised long-time fans of this saga closure. Going down that route has often been a solid means to inspire box office success in long-running movie franchises. Just look at fellow 2025 moneymaker “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” and how it bettered its predecessor’s box office run with a promotional campaign that emphasized the end was near.

For “Last Rites,” this aesthetic also promised potential moviegoers intense frights rooted in the Warrens’ uncovering a case that brought their careers to a halt — the “Last Rites” poster even had a tagline ominously proclaiming it “The Case That Ended It All.” Similarly grim messaging abounded in the trailers and TV spots, all of which coalesced to hammer home to viewers that the end was near for the Warrens. This was one franchise that wouldn’t end in a celebratory dance party, like “Shrek Forever After.” More spine-tingling terrors than usual were coming for these paranormal investigators.

Even beyond that, the promise of seeing how the Warrens’ story finishes was likely enough to get some fans (even those who might have missed other recent “Conjuring” entries) back in the theater for one last ooky ride.

The biggest box office hits of the 2020s have often been driven by young people and women. While older-skewing titles like “Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter One” have absolutely cratered, titles skewed towards audiences under 35 with heavy female fanbases, like “Barbie,” “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” and “A Minecraft Movie,” have been licenses to print money. “The Conjuring: Last Rites” continued that trend with aplomb. Over its opening weekend, 51% of its audience was women, while folks in the 18-34 age range made up a whopping 69% of its Thursday night preview audience. Compare that to the 69% male audience that showed up for “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” on opening weekend, the 61% male preview night audience  for “Ballerina,” and the 62% male opening weekend share for “Captain America: Brave New World.”

Even as Hollywood frustratingly takes steps backwards in how many movies it produces made by and/or starring women, “The Conjuring: Last Rites” radically overperforming is another sign of how important this demographic is to modern box office success. It’s also worth noting that Hispanic audiences made up 38% of the “Last Rites” opening weekend crowd, just a smidge below Caucasian moviegoers (39%) as the biggest ethnicity seeing “Last Rites” domestically. 

This is another sign of who drives the biggest modern hit films, as resonating with Latino and/or Black audiences almost always leads to remarkable box office numbers. Drawing in marginalized moviegoers solidified how massive “The Conjuring: Last Rites” turned out to be.