UPDATED: “The Nun” had a divine opening weekend atop the North American box office.

Warner Bros. dominated for the fifth weekend in a row as the latest installment in the “Conjuring” series launched with $53.5 million in 3,876 locations. That easily marks the best debut in the series, crushing 2013’s “The Conjuring,” which previously held the record with $41.8 million. It’s also the second-best September debut behind Warner Bros.’ “It.” Overseas, “The Nun” generated a mighty $77.5 million for a global start of $131 million.

Corin Hardy’s horror flick — starring Demian Bichir and Taissa Farmiga — broke a number of franchise records this weekend. It had the largest Thursday showing out of the five movies ($5.4 million), as well as the biggest opening day ($22.3 million). Imax screens accounted for $4.5 million of “The Nun’s” debut.

The first four movies in Warner Bros.’ “Conjuring” franchise — “The Conjuring,” “Annabelle,” “The Conjuring 2,” and “Annabelle: Creation” — have generated over $1.1 billion globally.

“We knew heading into the weekend that anticipation for ‘The Nun’ was extremely high across multiple demos, but these results surpassed all our expectations,” Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. head of domestic distibution, said. “We anticipate strong word of mouth to carry the film well into the fall.”

On Sunday, estimates showed “Crazy Rich Asians” beating newcomer “Peppermint,” though the places were swapped when actuals came in on Monday. STX’s Jennifer Garner thriller “Peppermint” opened with $13.4 million when it debuted in 2,890 locations.

“Crazy Rich Asians” still had a solid showing in its fourth weekend, earning an impressive $13.2 million — a decline of 38%. Jon M. Chu’s rom-com has now earned $136 million in North America and $164 globally.

The final new entry of the weekend, faith-based drama “God Bless the Broken Road,” bowed with a dismal $1.5 million on 1,272 screens. The movie is loosely based on the hit Rascal Flatts song and stars “American Idol” alum Jordin Sparks, Robin Givens, Lindsay Pulsipher, and former NFL player LaDainian Tomlinson.

Rounding out the top five with impressive holdovers is Warner Bros. shark thriller “The Meg” and Sony’s “Searching.” “The Meg” earned another $6.1 million for a domestic tally of $131.6 million. Meanwhile, “Searching” brought in $4.5 million, taking its North American total to $14.3 million.

Tom Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” crossed a major milestone this weekend, topping $700 million globally. It has now surpassed “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol” ($649.7 million) as the highest grossing installment in the franchise.

At the specialty box office, Magnolia’s documentary “Kusama – Infinity” opened in just two locations, where it brought in $30,400. That translates to an impressive $15,200 per screen.

The first weekend in September is down from last year by 28.3%, according to comScore, but that’s to be expected after “It” came along to smash expectations with its massive $123 million debut. Still, the box office is up a healthy 9.5% compared to 2017.