The Conjuring: Last Rites breaks all horror film records at the box office

Less than a week after it's theatrical release, The Conjuring: Last Rites has shattered every major horror record in it's opening weekend, becoming the strongest debut ever at the box office for it's genre. Marketed as the final chapter in The Conjuring franchise, the film stormed into theaters with a colossal $194 million global debut, usurping 2017's It, which opened with $123 million.

Domestically alone The Conjuring: Last Rites has earned a whopping $83- 84 million, the strongest start ever for a Conjuring film. For a year that has been pretty successful for horror films, Michael Chaves final nail in the franchise comes out on top. This also gives Warner Bros. it's seventh consecutive film this year to open above $40 million, a feat that has not been achieved by any other studio.

More details about The Conjuring: Last Rites

The Conjuring: Last Rites arrives cloaked in dread and finality, a film that doesn’t just close the Warren case files but ties the saga back to where it all began. Directed by Michael Chaves and written by Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing, and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, the ninth entry in The Conjuring Universe merges origin and legacy, tragedy and triumph. The film is based on the Smurl Hauntings, a highly publicized paranormal case that happened in the 80s.

The story opens in 1964, when Ed and Lorraine Warren, played once more by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga face an antique mirror tied to a malignant entity. Lorraine collapses mid-investigation, triggering the premature stillbirth of her child, only for the baby, Judy, to be revived through prayer. That miracle plants the film’s central thread: a daughter whose psychic inheritance is both a blessing and a curse.

Decades later, the Smurl family of Pennsylvania inherits the same cursed mirror and foul incidents follow as the family starts sensing danger. Their haunting spirals out of control, attracting Judy and her fiancé Tony to the house. The Warrens, who were in retirement take the case up at Judy's insistence. Soon, they discover the mirror is no simple conduit, it’s the very demon they once battled, determined to destroy Judy. As they fight to save the Smurls and their own families, evil is unleashed, putting all their lives in danger.

What makes The Conjuring: Last Rites feel fresh is not just its familiar jump scares but its emotional layering. Cameos from franchise veterans, from the Perrons to the Hodgsons, transform the finale into a farewell tour. Even James Wan sneaks in, reminding fans of the saga’s roots. With its record-breaking box office and chillingly intimate story, The Conjuring: Last Rites delivers horror’s rarest feat: a finale that feels both terrifying and tender.