JUL 19-21 BOX OFFICE REPORT: CONJURING UP A FORTUNE

A record-setting debut for The Conjuring, from director James Wan, tops the box office this weekend in the States. Three more expensive new entries chart below it. The Conjuring's impressive $41.9 million is a new record for original horror movies, and is already more than twice its budget. In third place, Turbo could only drum up $21.3 million ($31 million since Wednesday) - that's below Despicable Me 2 on its third weekend (that film has now already passed the first Despicable Me's final total). Red 2 couldn't muster up grosses as strong as the first Red did back in October 2010, taking $18 million. But the big loser of the weekend, and the most expected, was R.I.P.D., whose paltry $12.7 million start wasn't even one tenth of its enormous budget.

The Lone Ranger was, once again, one of the worst performers among major holdovers, falling six places to 11. The Heat (8) fared well, as did World War Z (9), which was placed higher than Monsters University (10) for the first time since both films opened five weekends ago. And Fruitvale Station's (17) small expansion was a big success, as it took a per-theatre average of $21,750 in its second weekend. The best performance among limited releases came from The Act of Killing (49), deservedly, with $27,450 in just one theatre (the highest per-theatre average of any film this weekend). Girl Most Likely (18) flopped, Blackfish (40) did decent business, and Only God Forgives' (25) takings were undoubtedly dented by its day-and-date opening on VOD.

The Winner / Highest Opener: The Conjuring ($41,855,326)

Top Per-Theatre Average: The Act of Killing ($27,450)

Everything in full at Box Office Mojo.