Hollywood Box Office Reported

#1 ‘The Conjuring’ Scares Up $38+M Weekend & Rare ‘A-’ CinemaScore; Other New Films Soft Or Sinking: ‘Red 2′, ‘Turbo’, ‘R.I.P.D.’

UPDATE: Friday had bad news for every new film except great news for Warner Bros/New Line’s The Conjuring (playing in 2,903 theaters) which not only opened #1 with a $40M weekend on tap but made $3.3M from Thursday late shows and Friday midnights. Horror flick also received a coveted ‘A-’ CinemaScore which should help word of mouth - an unusually good grade for the genre where ‘D’ and ‘F’ have become commonplace. Lionsgate/Summit Entertainment’s Red 2 (3,016 theaters) received a strong ‘B+’ CinemaScore so today’s soft opening could become stronger Saturday if more adults turn out due to good word of mouth. Universal was expecting itsJonah Hex-meets-Men In Black retread R.I.P.D. (2,852 theaters) to rest in agony this weekend after long delays. So lousy reviews and its low ‘C+’ CinemaScore were no surprise. Still, it’s a 3D financial disaster because of its too-big budget: my sources say it cost $182.1M but the production rebate was $28.1M so the aggregate net negative to Universal $154M. At least the studio has humongous worldwide profits from Despicable Me 2 to console it: 3D toon crossed $500M worldwide this week and also became the highest grossing animated film of the year domestically. Finally, DreamWorks Animations’  original non-sequel Turbo (3,806 theaters) which opened Wednesday will have one of toon company’s worst openings since company started (figuring in inflation, higher ticket prices, and the 3D premium.) Then again, these animated pics have 4x-5x multiples around the globe so distributor Fox isn’t going to count it out yet. Sorry to repeat myself, but shame on all those morons at other media outlets gleefully declaring ‘bombs’ days before the movies even opened in one theater.  At least wait until opening night to detonate the humiliating headlines so heartbreaking for filmmakers. And it’s finally clear that Legendary Pictures’ too-expensive Pacific Rim may eke out $100M domestic all in – which means it, too, must depend on Warner Bros’ distribution overseas for most of its coin.

Here are Top Ten domestic estimates for Friday. Full analysis later.

1. The Conjuring (New Line/Warner Bros) NEW [Runs 2,903] R
Friday $17.0M, Weekend $38.5M

2. Despicable Me 2 3D (Illumination/Universal) Week 3 [Runs 3,820] PG
Friday $7.4M (-45%), Weekend $24.30M, Cume $275.4M

3. Turbo 3D (DreamWorks Animation/Fox) Week [Runs 3,806] PG
Friday $6.5M, Weekend $21.4M, Cume $31.1M

4. Grown Ups 2 (Columbia/Sony) Week 2 [Runs 3,491] PG13
Friday $6.3M (-61%), Weekend $20.0M, Cume $79.5M

5. Red 2 (Summit/Lionsgate) NEW [Runs 3,016] PG13
Friday $6.2M, Weekend $18.0M

6. Pacific Rim 3D (Legendary/Warner Bros) Week 2 [Runs 3,285] PG13
Friday $4.7M, Weekend $15.3M, Cume $67.5M

7. R.I.P.D. 3D (Universal) NEW [Runs 2,852] PG13
Friday $4.7M, Weekend $12.2M

8. The Heat (Twentieth Century Fox) Week 4 [Runs 2,689] R
Friday $2.8M, Weekend $9.2M, Cume $129.1M

9. World War Z (Paramount) Week 5 [Runs 2,066] PG13
Friday $1.5M, Weekend $5.1M, Cume $186.8M

10. Monsters University 3D (Pixar/Disney) Week 5 [Runs 2,186] G
Friday $1.4M, Weekend $4.7M, Cume $248.6M

For more estimates listed by title, see box office results here...