Insidious 2 smashed predictions by bringing in a huge sum of $41 million over the weekend, a feat make all the more impressive by the fact that it now stands as the second highest earning September release of all time. A resounding result for the horror genre itself, but where does it place amongst the other big hitters of 2013, a year that has seen records broken and ticket sales reach new highs (and lows in some respects).

Patrick Wilson
Patrick Wilson: the new face of the horror genre?

The $41 mil. the new movie made actually puts it second in the list of highest earning horror movies in 2013, with The Conjuring inching ahead only just with $41.9 million. Yet despite this tremendous haul for the two horror titles, neither are actually amongst the heaviest hitting movies of the year and in fact, neither of the two horror titles are in the top ten for highest grossing movies in their respective opening weekends.

Watch the trailer for Insidious 2

It will come as no surprise to learn that this years highest earning film, the billion-dollar earning Iron Man 3, is at the top of the chart for highest opening weekend gross. The film earned a colossal $174,144,585 when it first opened, $60 mil. more than it's closest competitor. Another superhero was at hand to take away the number two spot, with Man of Steel taking in $116,619,362 when it opened in June. Fast & Furious 6 is number three, making $97,375,245 on it's opening weekend, a number that is still hard to comprehend. The top five is made up of Despicable Me 2 and Monsters University, which made over $83 mil. and $82 mil. respectively. (Thanks to Box Office Mojo for providing the information).

So it may not be the runaway contender for highest grossing movie of 2013, but Insidious 2's achievements shouldn't go without praise. It made more than four time the original Insidious did when it opened three years ago, and for a horror sequel this is an amount that it by all means a rarity rather than a given. Can we now expect a Insidious 3? It would be silly to think otherwise. Oh, and in case you were wondering, it was last year's Hotel Transylvania, with $42.5 million, that still holds the September record.

James Wan
James Wan directed the horror.