The Conjuring: Last Rites, the ninth film in The Conjuring Universe, received a good opening in India, collecting ₹17.5 crore on its opening day. On its opening weekend, the horror film collected around ₹33 crore, with the English version making alone ₹18 crore—a huge figure for a horror release in India. So far, the movie has collected a total of ₹55.5 crore at the Indian box office.
Monday Dip in Collections
The film, despite its strong opening, saw a visible dip in collections on the first Monday, posting its first single-digit day with a collection of only ₹5 crore. With box office monitoring platform Sacnilk, collections saw a major decline compared to the weekend, a trend generally seen with most movie releases, but a cause for concern for one opening with such steam.
Stronghold in Southern Cities
Interestingly, The Conjuring: Last Rites also continued to register comparatively stronger performance in southern Indian cities such as Kochi, Chennai, and Bengaluru, where theater occupancy continued to be over 20% on Monday. The sustained curiosity within these markets has served to keep the film in the limelight even as attendance across the country slowed down.
Comparison with Other Releases
The movie has already passed recent rival Param Sundari, which could not reach the ₹50 crore mark after 10 days in cinemas. In spite of the mixed reviews, The Conjuring: Last Rites was able to capitalize on the popularity of its franchise and its star cast, including Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga again donning their legendary roles as Ed and Lorraine Warren.
Mixed Audience Reactions
Although box office figures indicate a good run, the movie received a mediocre response from viewers as well as critics. Viewers on social media sites such as Reddit were disappointed. A viewer referred to it as “the worst movie of the franchise,” while another was sad that the original director did not direct the film, showing hesitation to see it in cinemas. Directed by Michael Chaves, and produced by Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing, and David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, the movie is inspired by the true Smurl haunting.
Final Thoughts
Ours despite its drawbacks, The Conjuring: Last Rites manages to pull people in, particularly in metro and southern regions. Whether it lasts the long haul will be down to word-of-mouth and how well it can maintain traffic over the next few days.
