Kenneth Branagh stars as Hercule Poirot in twentieth Century Studio’s “A Haunting in Venice.”
Disney | twentieth Century Studios
Time to pair that pumpkin spice latte with some popcorn. Spooky movie season is officially here.
Starting Friday, movie theaters will have a gradual stream of jump scares, creepy monsters and gore — and that is great news for the box office.
As Hollywood grapples with dual labor strikes that restrict promotions for large blockbuster features, horror movies could possibly be the right balm. Fans of the genre aren’t as preoccupied with the star power behind the movies, but reasonably how scary and bloody – and fun – they’re.
“Horror movies have been a mainstay of cinema since its inception and have never lost their appeal particularly when presented within the communal environment of a darkened movie theater,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.
With smaller-than-average production budgets, these movies are also often very lucrative for studios and do not require massive box office receipts to be profitable.
“Horror movies have an innate quality about them that does not require the sort of traditional mass marketing footprint major franchises do to be able to capture their audience,” said Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at BoxOffice.com.
Already in 2023, the horror movie genre has generated greater than $600 million in domestic ticket sales, representing around 10% of the entire box office within the U.S. and Canada, in accordance with data from Comscore.
Top horror movies this yr include:
- Paramount’s “Scream,” which generated $108 million domestically and $170 million worldwide on a $35 million budget
- Universal’s “M3gan,” which took in $95 million within the U.S. and Canada and $180 million globally on a budget of $12 million
- Sony’s “Insidious: The Red Door,” which tallied $82 million domestically and $186 million globally on a budget of $16 million.
“Today’s audiences love the thrills and escapist nature of horror movies and the consistently solid box office numbers have ensured that studios and filmmakers will proceed to supply a plentiful variety of these movies and movie theaters now and well into the long run,” Dergarabedian said.
And audiences have loads of frights to behold in theaters the approaching weeks.
Upcoming horror movie releases
Sept. 1 — “All Fun and Games” (AGBO/Vertical Entertainment)
Sept. 8 — “The Nun II” (Warner Bros.)
Sept. 15 — “A Haunting in Venice” (Disney/twentieth Century Studios)
Sept. 22 — “It Lives Inside” (Neon/Brightlight Pictures)
Sept. 29 — “Saw X” (Lionsgate/Twisted Pictures)
Oct. 6 — “The Exorcist: Believer” (Universal/Blumhouse)
Oct. 13 — “Dear David” (Lionsgate/BuzzFeed Studios)
Oct. 27 — “Five Nights at Freddy’s” (Universal/streaming same day on Peacock)
While none of those upcoming horror movies are expected to have explosive opening weekend box office numbers, they supply much-needed supplementary revenue to cinemas and collectively add to the general annual haul. They will be much more necessary for theater corporations reminiscent of AMC and Cinemark, not to say Hollywood studios, as big movies reminiscent of “Dune: Part II” move to 2024.
Currently, “The Nun II” is anticipated to snare between $30 million and $45 million during its opening weekend on its technique to as much as $95 million during its domestic run, in accordance with forecasts from BoxOffice.com.
“A Haunting in Venice,” Kenneth Branagh’s third Agatha Christie adaptation, is on pace to deliver $11 million to $16 million during its debut and tally between $37 million and $57 million before it leaves theaters in the united statesand Canada.
And “Saw X,” the most recent entry within the grisly torture horror franchise, is slated for $10 million to $15 million during its opening weekend and a final run of between $22 million and $35 million domestically.
Projections for “The Exorcist: Believer,” the primary entry in a latest trilogy, and video game adaptation “Five Nights at Freddy’s” weren’t immediately available. Notably, “Five Nights at Freddy’s” will follow the identical distribution path because the last two installments within the Halloween franchise and will be available on Peacock the identical day it arrives in theaters.
“At the tip of the day, having fun with scare or two with an audience is as definitive of a theatrical experience as every other,” Robbins said.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.