This week’s box office is a tale of two movies: Warner Bros.’ The Conjuring 2, champion of the domestic charts with a $40.4 million opener, and Universal’s Warcraft, king of the international arena for the second week in a row, amassing $ 185 m from 51 territories, including a massive $156 million from the coveted Chinese market for a total cume of $ 286. 1 million. The two titles reverse their positions when changing markets, Warcraft coming in second stateside with a very weak $ 24. 4 million opening salvo, and Conjuring 2 going for $50 million from 44 territories.

Conjuring 2 was well-reviewed and brought back the core talent that made the first film so successful in 2013 ($ 137.4 million domestically, $ 180.6 million internationally): director James Wan and cast top liners Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson as (real-life) paranormal investigators Lorraine and Ed Warren, once again facing the forces of darkness, this time in a London home plagued by a small crowd of uninvited and freeloading tenants from, one presumes, hell. The positive response from moviegoers indicates a strong brand that does not require viral videos or social media tricks to bring eyeballs to screens. With a modest $ 40 million budget (twice as much as the first pic), the Conjuring brand is also a powerful moneymaking machine in an era when most studios need to spend the GDP of a small nation in order to rack significant returns. Having opened in 44 international markets, Conjuring 2 took the number 1 spot in 25 of them, with Mexico and Brazil in the lead.

Warcraft was mostly trounced by reviewers (and defended by gamers), something that may or may not have impacted its performance stateside beyond the scope of fans of the original material. The movie, based on Blizzard Entertainment’s billion-dollar videogame series World of Warcraft, took three years of work from director Duncan Jones, and $160 million in production costs alone. Its chances for profit are clearly overseas among game fans, with China leading the way just as it had done for another Universal franchise, Fast and Furious. Besides the phenomenal opening in the Middle Kingdom – an opening weekend milestone, topping last year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron – Warcraft also took the number 1 spot in 45 other territories, including key Asian and European markets such as Taiwan, Russia and Germany.

This week’s other newcomer is also a sequel – Lionsgate’s Now You See Me 2, starring Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Morgan Freeman and new addition of Daniel Radcliffe as a band of hip illusionists who pull off impossible heists. The picture did well in the face-off with the two box office behemoths, coming in a respectable third domestically with $23 million (off just -22% from Now You See Me‘s $29.4 million) and internationally with $ 20.1 million from 30 markets.

Next week will likely go to the fishes when Disney/Pixar brings out their version of a sequel – Finding Dory, a belated response to 2003’s animated blockbuster Finding Nemo. Few will dare stand in its way, although Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart’s action comedy Central Intelligence will certainly try.

See the latest world box office estimates: worldwide_weekend_estimates_june_12_2016.pdf