Horror at the Box Office: ‘Bone Temple’ Falls Below Expectations
Arriving on the heels of last year’s 28 Years Later, The Bone Temple opened to an estimated $13 million domestically over the MLK holiday weekend, well below its $20 million projections and even further below its 2025 predecessor’s $30 million opening. That landed it in second place overall for the weekend.
This is clearly a disappointment for Sony Pictures, who may have overestimated the mainstream popularity of this series. The 28 Days Later franchise has certainly built a following, but it has never been a huge box office blockbuster. It’s not like it was ever as popular as, say, The Walking Dead in its heyday.
Also, many potential viewers probably weren’t willing to shell out more money to see this in theaters after watching the previous installment less than a year ago. Sony should have given this movie a later release.
With a $63 million budget, The Bone Temple faces a tough road to profitability. It’s earned about $31 million worldwide so far.
The Sydney Sweeney thriller The Housemaid continues to show remarkable endurance. It earned an estimated $8.5 million, a slim decline of 22% from the previous weekend, and finished in fourth place. The film continues to clean up at the box office, blasting past $100 million domestically and nearly $180 million worldwide.
Primate had a decent second weekend, earning an estimated $5 million and a sixth place finish. That’s a 55% drop from week 1, a standard decline for a horror movie. It’s grossed $24 million worldwide thus far on a reported budget of around $20-25 million.
Meanwhile, Night Patrol earned $194K in a limited release. It will likely land on Shudder soon.
Up Next
The Return to Silent Hill, the third installment in a franchise based on the videogame series, haunts theaters starting January 23rd. Can it replicate the commercial success of the Five Nights at Freddy’s movies?
It’s been 14 years since the last Silent Hill movie, so it’ll be intriguing to see if this movie can retain the fanbase of the previous installments.
Credit to Box Office Mojo for the figures cited.
