“Annabelle: Creation” opens strong at BO

Warner Bros./New Line's R-rated prequel “Annabelle: Creation” conjured up a pleasing $35 million from 3,502 theaters in its domestic box-office debut, more than enough to scare off the competition even as it came in somewhat behind the previous three films in the successful “Conjuring” horror franchise.

Overall, it was another sluggish weekend at the North American box office, with revenue down more than 30 percent from the same frame last year, as new animated offering “The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature” did muted business and holdovers including “The Dark Tower” and “Detroit” continued to struggle. Summer to date is now 12 percent down from the same frame in 2016.

Directed by David F. Sandberg, “Annabelle: Creation” follows a doll maker and his wife who, after losing their little girl, welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home. But they soon become the target of the doll maker's possessed creation, Annabelle.