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Ridley Scott Confirms Over 20 Minutes Cut from Alien: Covenant

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In a recent interview with Collider, Ridley Scott revealed that he cut just about 20 minutes from his latest film Alien: Covenant.

Scott cut the 20 minutes based on test screenings and in an effort to bring the film in at just over the two hour mark.  Scott actually appeared happy with the feedback from the test screenings and there were no signs that the director was told to trim the film by his producers (no Blade Runner-style creative showdowns it would seem). Scott asserted that sometimes a director “…thinks you know everything, but you don’t”. read more

Alien: Covenant Wins Weekend Box Office, But May Have a Tough Road Ahead

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According to current box office estimates, Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant narrowly beat out another set of “aliens” in the form of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 with a weekend gross of $36 million dollars.  Last week’s champ (Guardians) finished with just over $35 million at the weekend box office, ending their two week reign in the top spot.

While the win is a positive for the new Alien film, it did not bring in the estimated $40-$45 million that most tracking agencies predicted.  In fact, the much maligned Prometheus brought in $15 million more than Covenant with a total of $51 million in its first weekend in 2012.  Couple this with a summer packed with a new blockbuster or two every weekend until  mid-August, and Covenant may not last long at your local theater. read more

Summer 2017 Box Office Slump Predicted: Will Horror Films Once Again Save the Day?

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Many news outlets are reporting the potential for a decline in ticket sales at the summer box office due to sequel fatigue, competition from streaming services, and an overall lower quality of blockbuster this summer.  While the tales of streaming killing the box office are a bit over-rated (and over-reported), the first major  flop of the summer season, Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur movie (which could only draw $15 million dollars in its opening weekend, carrying a $175 million dollar budget price tag), has some studios “quaking in their boots”.  Will it be up to horror films to once again save the summer? read more

Life Stumbles Out of the Gate, Get Out Continues to Add to Box Office Totals

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Although Life received positive reviews and benefited from a recognizable cast, the film had trouble finding any “life” at an incredibly competitive March box office and only returned an estimated $12,600,000 during its opening weekend.

Even though Life earned a 67% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, fans chose other options at the cinema, or stayed home waiting for the next installment in the Aliens series (Alien:Covenant), from which it appears Life borrows heavily from.  Fans gave the film a very low “C+” Cinemascore rating, which is particularly low for a film that scored much better with critics (Life’s score also happens to be one of the lowest of 2017 so far).  With a production budget close to 60 million dollars, the film will have to do markedly better at the foreign box office to turn a profit, no small feat for an R-rated sci-fi/horror film. read more

Kong Reigns at Box Office; Get Out Continues to Roll

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Kong: Skull Island was crowned box office champ this weekend with an estimated $61 million dollars over the March 10th-12th frame.

The total is a strong one for March, and would have been higher if not for the strong competition from last week’s winner Logan (which is currently over $152 million dollars after two weeks of release) and the critically acclaimed Get Out.   Logan made $37,850,00 in second place and Get Out came in third with a total of $21,072,600 in its third week of release.  Get Out also added 205 screens this weekend, quite a feat when you consider how many new releases are scheduled for March this year (and the success of the film probably accounts for the Belko Experiment’s recent screen count drop a week away from its debut to only 1,200 screens.)  At this rate, Get Out is almost certain to unseat Split as the number one horror hit of the year so far, with a current gross of $111 million and counting. read more

Jordan Peele’s Get Out Continues to Impress at the Box Office

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Although Logan easily beat out all competition at the box office with a $85 million dollar debut due to stellar reviews and Hugh Jackman’s farewell performance as everyone’s favorite Canadian mutant, Get Out continued to rack up impressive box office numbers in second place.

Get Out made $28 million at the box office this weekend, bringing the film’s total to a robust $78 million dollars.  Aside from its profitable debut last weekend ($33 million), the film also performed very well over the week, taking in an average of $4 million from Monday to Thursday. read more

Get Out Dominates Oscar Weekend Box Office With First Place Finish

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Get Out, the directorial debut by Jordan Peele, crushed the competition at the box office over the Oscar weekend, bringing in an estimated $30.9 million dollars.

For a film that started with a bit of skepticism from fans due to the director’s background in comedy, Get Out succeded on every level this weekend. Not only did it debut at number one, the film currently holds a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes with 134 positive reviews.  It also earned a A- Cinemascore from viewers of the film, which, accordind to deadline, is almost unheard of for a horror film, as horror films, “Typically (these movies) are lucky to earn a B or B+, and that’s considered awesome, but Get Out is in rare air alongside The Conjuring 1 and 2 which both received A- grades.” read more

A Cure for Wellness Turns Out to be Box Office Poison

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As predicted at the start of the over-stuffed winter horror film season, there were bound to be some box office casualties and if you are Twentieth Century Fox, you probably wish you sought a second opinion before green-lighting this one.

Out of the numerous horror films released this season, A Cure for Wellness is undoubtably the biggest disappointment, earning an estimated $4.2 million dollars in receipts at the film’s opening weekend box office.  Every other major horror release this year (Split, Underworld: Blood Wars, Resident Evil: the Final Chapter, Rings, and the Bye Bye Man) have earned more during their opening box office frames, even films with worse reviews and worse word-of-mouth. read more

Split Three-peats at Superbowl Weekend Box Office, Rings Doesn’t Answer the Bell

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Split posted a narrow victory over fellow horror film Rings at the 2017 Superbowl weekend box office showdown.

Split added an estimated $14.5 million dollars to its already far above expectations total.  Split will also reach the $100 million dollar domestic milestone early this week, as its cumulative total stands at roughly $98 million.  Split will certainly drop the box office title next week, as three high profile releases (Fifty Shades Darker, John Wick 2, and The Lego Batman Movie) will most likely bump the film into 4th place.  Irregardless, Split is undoubtedly the horror winner of the winter season, emerging from a very large crowd of contenders.   read more

Split Repeats as Box Office Champ, Resident Evil’s Final Installment Underperforms

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Defying all logic and shattering initial expectations, Split once again ruled the box office this weekend.  Going into the weekend, the modestly budgeted film ($10 million) had already earned $51 million dollars and added another estimated $26.3 million to its cumulative box office total over the January 27-29 frame for a grand total of $78 million.

Split appears to be the big winner this winter season, not only muscling out fellow horror films, but all new releases as well.  Bolstered by a young teen audience and undeterred by underperforming action films such as XXX: The Return of Xander Cage (a $33 million return on a $85 million dollar budget), Split looks to continue to grab more cash in weeks to come.   It will face more competition over the next few weeks with Rings (and a number of smaller releases such as Don’t Knock Twice) debutting next weekend.  At this point, it will depend if audiences remember (and want to see) a third film in the franchise after 12 years or if horror fans will respond to the film with apathy, similar to last fall’s Blair Witch remake.  Next week’s Superbowl is also a factor, as studios traditionally release films that appeal to women in the form of horror movies and romantic comedies.  Will ticket buyers who wish to escape Superbowl hype choose the reigning champ or yesterday’s creepy hit next weekend?  Stay tuned to Horror News Network to find out!    read more