As the Venice Film Festival came to an end on Saturday night and Toronto is in full swing, the attention of Hollywood is already on the new Awards Season, with the Golden Globes scheduled for January 6 and the Academy Awards for February 24. But audiences at large, here in the U.S. and abroad, don’t appear as ready to let go of the summer fare, while the appetite for horror movies keeps defying expectations. See The Nun. The latest installment of The Conjuring franchise got bad reviews and a C CinemaScore, but The Nun had a $53.5 million debut. That’s the biggest opening of any title in the franchise. It’s also the second highest September debut of all time in North America, after last year’s It (with $123.4 million). 

This time around, The Nun is about the adventures of a nun (Taissa Farmiga, younger sister of Vera who starred in The Conjuring 2) and a priest (Demián Bichir) sent to investigate the mysterious death of another nun in Romania. With its scary and somehow predictable display of crosses and graveyards and crows, the film attracted even larger audiences overseas. The Nun managed to generate $77.5 million out of 60 countries, for a global launch of $131 million. In 54 of those countries, the Warner Brother’s film gained the top spot, with Mexico alone good for $ 10.7 million. 

On the international charts, second place went to an action film that has been around for over two months: Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout. On its second weekend in China, the film generated $32.4 million, for $137 million so far. With $726 million worldwide, Fallout is also the top grossing film of the storied franchise and the biggest global success for Tom Cruise.

Third place went to Crazy Rich Asians. Jon M. Chu’s romantic comedy grossed $5.6 million overseas, for a total of close to $30 million. Domestically, it relinquished the top spot after three weeks but was still good for $13.6 million, which brought it to a total of $136.2 million. 

Add The Meg and this was decidedly a good week for Warner Brothers, who also claims Crazy Rich Asians and The Nun. In its fourth week, the prehistoric shark pic was in fourth place domestically, with $6 million over the weekend and a total of $131.6 million. Worldwide, The Meg added $17 million and is about to cross the $500 million mark.

Back to the domestic market Peppermint, a thriller starring Jennifer Garner, was No. 3 with $13.3 million. Finally, two films that have left a significant mark at the summer box office of 2018, at home and overseas. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again has crossed the $250 million line overseas, led by Italy that opened with $1.6 million. The UK alone is good for an impressive $82 million and at $376 million worldwide Mamma Mia! 2 will not overcome the original but is still making audiences sing and dance. More incredible, Pixar’s The Incredibles 2 – it added $5.7 million out of 25 markets, for a worldwide total of $1.176 million. And it keeps growing, with markets such as Italy and Germany still to enjoy the return of the Parr family into action.

See the latest world box office estimates: