In the weekend of prayers or scares, it looks like moviegoers are going with the scares. The Curse of La Llorona got the Easter weekend started with an impressive preview night launch.
The James Wan produced horror film scared up $2.75 million in Thursday night previews. The figure is slightly higher than the $2.3 million that Paramount’s Pet Sematary posted in previews two weeks ago, as well as Escape Room‘s $2.3 million Thursday night back on January 3 and the Wan produced 2016 horror film Lights Out ($1.8 million). On the Thursday after Labor Day last year, The Nun previews rang up a record Thursday night for The Conjuring universe with $5.4 million off 7 PM showtimes.
This started suggests a launch in the $20+ million range and a likely number one finish weekend unless it completely falls off the rails. In regards to Llorona‘s Thursday night comparisons, both Pet Sematary and Lights Out, continued on to posts 3-days that were north of $20 million with $24.5 million and $21.6 million respectively.
Prayers weren’t exactly ignored either as Breakthrough held well after its Wednesday launch. The faith-based film earned $1.54 million yesterday, off 18% from its Wednesday debut and a running total of $3.4 million since launching weekend. The film should surge on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
