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‘The First Purge’ Earns $31 Million at Box Office

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It was an uphill battle for The First Purge, but Universal’s riotous film was still able to manage fourth place at a very competitive (and profitable) summer box office weekend.  The fourth film in the franchise raked in $17 million this weekend, bringing The First Purge’s total to $31 million for the Independence Day week (the film opened on Wednesday).

How does this entry stack up against the previous films?  The weekend box office is the softest in the franchise’s history, but this is certainly due to the early opening.  The film will most likely pass the original Purge’s worldwide totals ($89.3 million), but the film will be hard pressed to top either The Purge: Anarchy or The Purge: Election Night.  Reaching the fourth film in any franchise is certainly an accomplishment, but it does get more and more difficult to lure ticket buyers back to the theater.  Universal made the smart move to inject some life into the series by hiring new director Gerard McMurray (and you can read an interview with the director right here), but it might not be enough to cement the film’s solvency going forward. read more

‘Hereditary’s’ Second Weekend Holds Up at Box Office

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Much has been written about the polarizing effect that A24’s Hereditary has had on the horror community (and many predicted a sharp decline at the box office after the first weekend), but Ari Aster’s creepy take on family dynamics and satanism is still bringing fans into the theater, earning just over $7 million this past weekend.

While the weekend take is far from staggering, the fact that Hereditary only dropped by 48% is significant in light of the mixed fan reaction.  In comparison, most horror films will drop anywhere from 55% to 65% of their initial take after their first week of release. With no horror films on the horizon until The First Purge on July 4th, Hereditary should continue to attract curious fans (even those outside of the normal horror realm) over the next few weeks. read more

‘Rampage’ Wins Close Race With ‘A Quiet Place’ at Weekend Box Office

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The battle was close between loud, clumsy aliens and gigantic, loud monsters at the box office, but those big boys took home the crown with the Bally-Midway video game adaptation Rampage topping A Quiet Place this weekend.  Although Variety and Forbes initially reported that A Quiet Place was the winner, it turns out that Rampage actually unseated last week’s champ (perhaps those outlets should wait until actual estimates are released next week, before they announce their “favorite” as the big winner). read more

‘A Quiet Place’ Makes Some Noise at the Box Office with $50 Million Opening

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When it comes to box office returns for horror films this year, the releases have been relatively “quiet” at the box office, until Paramount’s A Quiet Place was released this weekend.  According to preliminary reports, A Quiet Place will win this weekend’s box office with $50.4 million, making it the second highest opening so far this year, behind only Black Panther.

Unlike last year, which saw Split and Get Out dominate the winter box office frame, no horror film has been able to capture the attention of audiences in a similar fashion.  Although profitable, many of the horror films (most notably Winchester, Strangers: Prey at Night, and Unsane with $25, $24, and $8 million respectively) under performed, with the exception of Insidious: The Last Key surprising everyone with a $67 million dollar take and an additional $100 million overseas.  A Quite Place is poised to do much better however, taking in almost 75% of Insidious’ domestic gross in its first weekend alone. read more

‘Insidious: The Last Key’ Approaching 100 Million at Worldwide Box Office

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January is off to a great start for the film industry, thanks to Jumanji, a slew of new releases, and the perennial horror favorite Insidous: the Last Key.

Insidious: the Last Key is quickly approaching the 100 million dollar mark at the worldwide box office, and it should also become the second most profitable film in the entire franchise before its theatrical run is over.  The Last Key added an estimated $12.5 million over the Martin Luther King Day weekend, bringing the film’s total to just over $50 million at the domestic box office.   Internationally, the film is also fairing well with $44 million at this point, with other territories on the horizon. read more

‘The Last Key’ Defeats ‘The Last Jedi’ at Weekend Box Office

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Variety is reporting that Insidious: The Last Key defeated Star Wars: The Last Jedi at this weekend’s box office, knocking the film down from first place to third place in its fourth week of release.

Insidious: The Last Key (not to be confused with the Jedi hating Darth Sidious) is projected to finish second at this weekend’s box office with a solid $29 million.  The Last Jedi is projected to finish third with just under $24 million (although if you have paid attention to Jedi’s box office history, the film has performed below estimates every weekend so far, perhaps due to some “Jedi mind tricks” being performed on entertainment reporters by “Darth Disney-ous”). read more

2017 is Officially the Highest Grossing Year Ever for Horror Movies

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In January of this year, I wrote that Horror movies are secretly saving Hollywood’s major film studios. Ten months later it turns out that it’s no longer a secret! The New York Times just crunched the numbers and reports that 2017 is “the biggest year in horror history,” citing the runaway success of such hits as Get Out, It, and Split.

As of this Friday, the combined box office earnings of all of the horror films of 2017 sits at $733.5 million. With two months left to sell tickets, that number will undoubtedly climb even higher. The current figure is already $100 million higher than the previous box office champ: the horror movies of 2000. Then, the release of Scream 3, Scary Movie, and What Lies Beneath earned a combined $617.7 million at the multiplex. read more

Tyler Perry’s ‘Boo 2: A Madea Halloween’ Wins Box Office; ‘The Snowman’ Melts

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For the second year in a row, Tyler Perry’s Halloween-themed installment in his popular Madea series topped the box office with $21.6 million in ticket sales. The sequel to Boo: A Madea Halloween easily beat out the CGI-heavy disaster movie Geostorm (which is yet another big budget studio flop that no one asked for) taking in only $13.3 million this weekend, even though Boo 2 played in 858 less theaters.  With this recipe for review-proof success, don’t be surprised to see Boo 3 next year at this time. read more

‘Happy Death Day’ Celebrates Box Office Victory

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Universal’s Happy Death Day “blew out the candles” on their competition this weekend, finishing with the top spot at the box office.

The Pg-13 horror version of Groundhog Day attracted a teen audience drawn in by the young cast and fairly positive reviews (the film scored a 64% rating on Rotten Tomatoes) to take the title this weekend with an estimated $26.5 million, and it has the chance to add more next weekend as film-goers search for more scares in the month of October.  The film’s budget came in under $5 million, so it is all gravy at this point forward for Universal. read more

‘It’ Creeps Into Top Spot; ‘Flatliners’ D.O.A. at Weekend Box Office

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It was a three way battle for the box office crown this weekend, but in the end, It appears to have climbed to the top of the heap once again, collecting an estimated $17.3 million in sales.

Final numbers will be released late Monday, but it looks like It was able to narrowly beat Tom Cruise’s American Made and Kingsman: The Golden Circle ($17 million).  The Stephen King adaptation continues to deliver impressive numbers nearly a month into its release, currently standing at $291 million at the domestic box office.  It will probably drop from the top spot next weekend when the highly anticipated and well-reviewed  Blade Runner 2049 opens (96% on Rotten Tomatoes), but Pennywise will most likely stay in theaters throughout October, adding to an already record-setting total. read more