'The Conjuring' Frightens Away Guts and Gore For Retro Ghost Hunting

Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) confronts the evil entity tormenting a Rhode Island family.

For a while there, director James Wan failed to generate the same level of genre-changing thrills that his breakout slasher Saw had in 2004. Dead Silence and Death Sentence weren't exactly resume highlights, however Wan returned to the horror scene in early 2011 with his terrifying supernatural thriller Insidious, which gave  audiences a second wind of Wan's contemporary mastery of the genre, and in return scared the living daylights out of them as hefty thank you. Wan now continues to spread his wings into the supernatural once more with The Conjuring.

From the start, The Conjuring claims to be based on the undisclosed investigation of paranormal team Ed and Lorraine Warren, most notable for their involvement in the Amityville Horror case. The Conjuring, however, is set a few years before Amityville as the Warrens (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) investigate the disturbing events at house of the Perrons, a Rhode Island couple living with their five girls.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 'Conjuring' Frightens the Masses During Overcrowded Weekend Frame

With four new releases launching onto the big screen this weekend, Despicable Me 2's impressive back-to-back run as the top film at the box office was set to end.

The Conjuring starring Patrick Wilson (Insidious) and Vera Farmiga (Bates Motel) scared up a first place finish with an estimated $42 million, setting a horror record for  non-sequels, prequels or reboots. The Conjuring also is a career high for director James Wan (Saw, Insidious).

Dropping to the second place, Illumination Entertainment's Despicable Me 2 continued to fend off the other three new releases, Turbo, RED 2 and R.I.P.D. with another $25 million added to its $276 million 3-week run. Despicable Me 2 is now the highest grossing animated film from the past three years.