The Conjuring 2 Off To A Decent Start At The Thursday Box Office

The Conjuring 2 - Main Trailer [HD]

People love their horror, as recently evidenced by Netflix revealing that the most devoured content on their streaming service is mostly horror properties. People just can"t get enough of getting the heebie-jeebies and that pattern continues this weekend. The Conjuring 2 is finally out in theaters this weekend, and with all the nightmares it gives to its audience also comes a lot of money. It"s still early in the weekend, but early tracking shows that the horror sequel is currently the number one movie of the weekend with $33-$37 million domestically.

These numbers come from the Hollywood Reporter, who write that though estimates vary, The Conjuring 2 has brought in around $37 million so far. It"s estimated that it made $3.4 million on Thursday night, surpassing the $3.3 million made by The Conjuring in 2013. The Conjuring 2 had a budget of $40 million, so it seems pretty likely that it will surpass that number with some extra by the end of the weekend. Similarly, the first Conjuring debuted with $41.8 million domestically on its first weekend. Directed by James Wan and starring Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, The Conjuring 2 is shaping up to be a hit for the summer.

It"s harder to say the same for its competition. Warcraft also debuted this weekend, with its total varying anywhere from $25-$35 million. Those numbers are probably unsatisfying to Legendary and Universal, who made the film with a budget of $160 million. The film took home $3.1 million on Thursday night previews. Don"t call the film a flop yet, though. While it so far hasn"t found a strong audience domestically, the film is doing pretty well overseas. It made a record-breaking $92 million in China on Wednesday and Thursday before breaking the $100 million gap on Friday. It"s also estimated to make $75 million in other foreign markets. While the film hasn"t been doing well critically, looks the Duncan Jones-directed fantasy will live on to fight another day.

Finally, the other big film to come out this weekend was another sequel, Now You See Me 2. The magic caper has so far made a total of $24-$26 million for the weekend, having made $8-$9 million on Friday. That puts it closer in league to Warcraft, but the weekend is still young. The first Now You See Me made $351.7 globally, so a similar number might be expected for the sequel. A third film is supposedly already in development, so everyone seems pretty confident for this one. Now You See Me 2 is directed by Jon M. Chu and stars Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Lizzy Caplan, Dave Franco, Mark Ruffalo, and Daniel Radcliffe

No big winners yet, but I would have to put my money on The Conjuring 2. It"s the most favorably reviewed movie of the weekend and a lot of people loved the first one. Who do you think will take home the gold for the weekend and which movie are you planning to see? Sound off in the comments below and check back with CinemaBlend to find out who wins the weekend.

Source: http://www.cinemablend.com/news/1522880/the-conjuring-2-off-to-a-decent-start-at-the-thursday-box-office

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"The Conjuring 2": Bigger, Longer, and Unholy

The Conjuring 2 - Strange Happenings in Enfield Featurette [HD]

Judy Warren (Sterling Jerins) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) in The Conjuring 2. Warner Bros. Pictures hide caption

toggle caption Warner Bros. Pictures

Judy Warren (Sterling Jerins) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) in The Conjuring 2.

Warner Bros. Pictures

The most telling aspect of The Conjuring 2, the gonzo sequel to the 2013 horror smash, is that it"s 133 minutes long. A running time like that is a rarityThe Exorcist, at 132 minutes, may be the strongest analoguebecause the genre draws intensity from concision, and its dread-soaked mysteries are not so easily sustained over time. But director James Wan, who made the seventh The Fast and the Furious entry between the two Conjuring movies, has figured out how to adapt the genre to the blockbuster age, when studios are batting for a home run every time they step to the plate. This is no mere haunted house movie. This is a tour through a giant, spring-loaded funhouse.

For evidence of Wan"s horror maximalism, look no further than the opening sequence, which finds real-life ghostbusters Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) Warren holding a seance at the famed Dutch Colonial in Amityville before moving onto something bigger. Consider that for a moment: Scary happenings at the Amityville housesecond only in horror iconography to the Bates house in Psycho, the subject of 14 movies (and counting) and numerous works of fiction, nonfiction, and semi-fictionare a mere throat-clearing for The Conjuring 2. Wan"s last feature had cars parachuting from a plane onto a mountain pass. This one has a room full of crosses that get twisted upside-down like a doorknob to the gates of h**l. Like any director of a blockbuster sequel, he takes the mandate to top himself seriously.

The Conjuring 2 mostly justifies the bloat, because Wan"s style is wonderfully energized and nimble, with a camera that roves quickly, sometimes madly, toward danger and a restless escalation of stakes. He also has legitimately compelling lead characters in Ed and Lorraine, whose profession and marriage the movies take seriously, even if the real world received them more skeptically. After a vision at Amityville prophecies her husband"s death and brings a frightening new demon into her conscience, Lorraine insists they take a step back from active casework and act strictly as consultants instead. It doesn"t happen, of course, but the depth of feeling between them gives the supernatural threat more weight.

Seven years after Amityville, Ed and Lorraine are summoned to a modest old home in the London borough of Enfield, where single mother Peggy Hodgson (Frances O"Conner) and her four children are besieged by a poltergeist. Peggy"s youngest daughter Janet (Madison Wolfe) has been haunted and occasionally possessed by an exceedingly cranky old spirit who wants the Hodgsons out of his home. The Warrens are called in by the Church in an unofficial capacity, but as their skepticism falls away, their mission to help the spiritually afflicted draws them into the fight.

As with The Conjuring and his two Insidious movies, Wan lifts from a generous smorgasbord of influences, combining the urban possession of The Exorcist and the multi-dimensional child abduction of Poltergeist with Spielbergian moments of humor and wonder. Never much for goreeven Saw, his extreme-horror breakthrough, is more about pain than plasmaWan instead amplifies the scares with old-fashioned effects and a hyper-aggressive soundtrack. There are at least five or six full-body shivers in The Conjuring 2, and most of them come through jump-scares done right, with each ghoulish surprise punctuated by blasts of unholy guttural noise.

There"s nothing particularly distinctive about The Conjuring 2, which is more about repurposing old effects than adding new ones. (Its generic qualities extend to the music cues. When the action shifts to London, Wan cuts a montage to The Clash"s "London Calling," which was recorded two years after the movie takes place.) What it lacks in originality, however, it makes up in moxie. Wan turns the Hodgson residence into whirring gizmo of demonic effectsa self-propelled fire truck, a zoetrope come to life, a leather recliner of the damnedthat never stops moving. It"s like the Hodgsons have taken up residence inside a shark"s mouth and the beast is relentlessly chewing. Wan brings the monster vividly to life, and in its scaled-up hokum, The Conjuring 2 charts a future for studio horror.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2016/06/09/481008640/the-conjuring-2-bigger-longer-and-unholy

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"The Conjuring 2": Bigger, Longer, and Unholy

THE CONJURING 2!

Judy Warren (Sterling Jerins) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) in The Conjuring 2. Warner Bros. Pictures hide caption

toggle caption Warner Bros. Pictures

Judy Warren (Sterling Jerins) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) in The Conjuring 2.

Warner Bros. Pictures

The most telling aspect of The Conjuring 2, the gonzo sequel to the 2013 horror smash, is that it"s 133 minutes long. A running time like that is a rarityThe Exorcist, at 132 minutes, may be the strongest analoguebecause the genre draws intensity from concision, and its dread-soaked mysteries are not so easily sustained over time. But director James Wan, who made the seventh The Fast and the Furious entry between the two Conjuring movies, has figured out how to adapt the genre to the blockbuster age, when studios are batting for a home run every time they step to the plate. This is no mere haunted house movie. This is a tour through a giant, spring-loaded funhouse.

For evidence of Wan"s horror maximalism, look no further than the opening sequence, which finds real-life ghostbusters Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) Warren holding a seance at the famed Dutch Colonial in Amityville before moving onto something bigger. Consider that for a moment: Scary happenings at the Amityville housesecond only in horror iconography to the Bates house in Psycho, the subject of 14 movies (and counting) and numerous works of fiction, nonfiction, and semi-fictionare a mere throat-clearing for The Conjuring 2. Wan"s last feature had cars parachuting from a plane onto a mountain pass. This one has a room full of crosses that get twisted upside-down like a doorknob to the gates of h**l. Like any director of a blockbuster sequel, he takes the mandate to top himself seriously.

The Conjuring 2 mostly justifies the bloat, because Wan"s style is wonderfully energized and nimble, with a camera that roves quickly, sometimes madly, toward danger and a restless escalation of stakes. He also has legitimately compelling lead characters in Ed and Lorraine, whose profession and marriage the movies take seriously, even if the real world received them more skeptically. After a vision at Amityville prophecies her husband"s death and brings a frightening new demon into her conscience, Lorraine insists they take a step back from active casework and act strictly as consultants instead. It doesn"t happen, of course, but the depth of feeling between them gives the supernatural threat more weight.

Seven years after Amityville, Ed and Lorraine are summoned to a modest old home in the London borough of Enfield, where single mother Peggy Hodgson (Frances O"Conner) and her four children are besieged by a poltergeist. Peggy"s youngest daughter Janet (Madison Wolfe) has been haunted and occasionally possessed by an exceedingly cranky old spirit who wants the Hodgsons out of his home. The Warrens are called in by the Church in an unofficial capacity, but as their skepticism falls away, their mission to help the spiritually afflicted draws them into the fight.

As with The Conjuring and his two Insidious movies, Wan lifts from a generous smorgasbord of influences, combining the urban possession of The Exorcist and the multi-dimensional child abduction of Poltergeist with Spielbergian moments of humor and wonder. Never much for goreeven Saw, his extreme-horror breakthrough, is more about pain than plasmaWan instead amplifies the scares with old-fashioned effects and a hyper-aggressive soundtrack. There are at least five or six full-body shivers in The Conjuring 2, and most of them come through jump-scares done right, with each ghoulish surprise punctuated by blasts of unholy guttural noise.

There"s nothing particularly distinctive about The Conjuring 2, which is more about repurposing old effects than adding new ones. (Its generic qualities extend to the music cues. When the action shifts to London, Wan cuts a montage to The Clash"s "London Calling," which was recorded two years after the movie takes place.) What it lacks in originality, however, it makes up in moxie. Wan turns the Hodgson residence into whirring gizmo of demonic effectsa self-propelled fire truck, a zoetrope come to life, a leather recliner of the damnedthat never stops moving. It"s like the Hodgsons have taken up residence inside a shark"s mouth and the beast is relentlessly chewing. Wan brings the monster vividly to life, and in its scaled-up hokum, The Conjuring 2 charts a future for studio horror.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2016/06/09/481008640/the-conjuring-2-bigger-longer-and-unholy

Continue Reading ..