Horror at the Box Office: Hokum Opens in Top 5
As expected, Hokum was this past weekend’s top-grossing genre offering, springing to a $6.5 million opening and a fifth place finish. That may not seem like much compared to the big studio films with massive releases, but Hokum cost only five million dollars to make.
Strong reviews and positive word of mouth may help propel it forward as it takes on plenty of horror competition coming up later this month. Considering the low budget, Neon is no doubt feeling optimistic about earning a nice profit. This is one of the better openings in the indie studio’s history.
Lee Cronin’s The Mummy dropped a reasonable 60% in its third weekend, grossing about $2.2 million and increasing its haul to over $27 million domestically and $80 million worldwide. It finished in seventh place.
The $22 million budget film has become one of the year’s most surprising horror success stories. The long gap since the last major mummy film has helped. Audiences are ready for a new take on this classic monster.
A new shark flick, Deep Water, quietly swam to eighth place with an estimated $2.1 million in its opening weekend. It was released with little fanfare by Magenta Light Studio, a small indie. With such a crowded market of shark horror movies, it’s tough for any new pic to stand out these days.
Up Next
Next weekend is quiet, which could bode well for Hokum. The next major horror release is Obsession on May 15th, followed by Passenger and Saccharine on the 22nd and Backrooms on the 29th.
I can’t recall a previous May that featured so many anticipated horror titles. Halfway to Halloween is becoming a popular time for genre releases!
Credit to Box Office Mojo for the figures cited.
