Move over Lone Ranger, After Earth and White House Down: there's a new guest in the bomb shelter. The weekend box office numbers are in and, as it turns out, most people were not dying to see R.I.P.D., Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges' depressingly blatant mash-up of Ghostbusters and Men in Black. (Apparently the incessant, Macklemore-assisted TV spots didn't help.) The action comedy debuted in seventh place, with a mere $12.8 million haul, against a reported $154 million budget.
In contrast, horror filmmaker James Wan wins big again. In addition to good reviews, The Conjuring opened at number one with $41.5 million, adding another 'w' to a resume that already includes box office successes like Saw and Insidious. With such a strong opening, the second best for an R-rated horror film (Paranormal Activity 3 is the champ), Conjuring is already on track to out-gross both of those movies, and its already zipped past its $20 million budget.
It would appear Wan has the horror midas touch, which is probably why he's busy challenging himself in brand new territory - he's the guy taking over Fast and Furious from the franchise's previous director, Justin Lin. Wan's Fast and Furious 7 drops next summer.
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[via EW]
