Horror at the Box Office: ‘Him’ Opens in 2nd Place
The football horror movie Him finished in second place in its first weekend, grossing an estimated $13.5 million domestically. Universal had hoped for a #1 opening, but negative reviews probably helped drag the film down.
I’m surprised by the overwhelmingly negative reception from critics. Jordan Peele movies are usually acclaimed, although it’s worth noting that he’s just the producer of Him. He didn’t direct it himself.
Him still put up respectable numbers, and it cost only $27 million to make, so it could prove profitable in the end. The film also opened internationally but quickly flopped, with less than $400,000 earned. Despite the NFL’s efforts at increasing the game’s international popularity, American football still has limited appeal outside of North America.
After its giant drop last time, The Conjuring: Last Rites had a solid third weekend, grossing an estimated $13 million, a drop of 49%. That ups its total to over $151 million domestically and $400 million worldwide.
Last Rites is now the highest-earning movie in the series. Mediocre reviews aside, this movie is now an unqualified commercial success, performing much better than I expected.
The Long Walk showed some life in its second weekend, declining just 46% and grossing $6.3 million. It’s made about $23 million compared to its $20 million budget. Considering the money Lionsgate invested in promotion, the movie still has work to do to become profitable. Positive word of mouth likely contributed to the respectable performance.
The fourth and last horror movie in the top ten this week is Weapons, which finished tenth. This is its eighth consecutive weekend in the top ten. Weapons grossed $1.26 million, which puts it just shy of $150 million domestically and over $260 million worldwide.
Looking Ahead
The Strangers: Chapter 2 invades theaters on September 26th. It’s a direct sequel to The Strangers: Chapter 1 and the fourth installment overall in the series. Chapter 1 received terrible reviews but made a sizable profit. Will Chapter 2 repeat this feat, or will audiences burned by the previous installment skip this one?
Chapter 2 really needs to open strong, because it will face major competition starting on October 3rd. Not surprisingly, that Friday will see a bevy of horror movies hit theaters, including Good Boy, Bone Lake, and Coyotes. Also, VHS Halloween premieres on Shudder.
Credit to Box Office Mojo for the figures cited.
