A summer date is typically the kiss of death for a horror film, but that’s usually because either a studio executive didn’t know what they were doing, or they just wanted to dump it between the release of a Batman or Transformers franchise. The problem is, summer typically isn’t the time people want to see a genre film. Moviegoers speak with their wallets, and it has been proven time and time again that it doesn’t always work (it should be noted that films like The Others and The Sixth Sense were major hits).
This all leads to the release of James Wan’s The Conjuring, which Warner Bros. Pictures will bow in theaters July 19. Wan has become a master of horror having to major hits, Saw and Insidious, as well as the ever-so-creepy Dead Silence. A new article on Variety indicates that the great summer challenge is a result of the film’s strength. Says the site, the film “will bow during the heart of summer, a result of scary-good test screening results.”
It’s astronomically rare for a studio to even acknowledge that test screenings have taken place since the general public and online goons (that’s me!) treat that as a sign of weakness. They’re celebrating their results, flaunting them right in front of our faces. What does this mean? It means that Warners wants everyone to know that they’re the gustiest studio in the biz, one that’s taking a huge chance on Wan’s Amityville Horror-inspired horror starring Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Lili Taylor, Ron Livingston, Mackenzie Foy, Joey King, Hayley McFarland and Shanley Caswell.
According to the mag, Conjuring has been generating virtually unheard of glowing responses from two test screenings. The move to July — a huge vote of confidence for The Conjuring — was made in direct response to those screenings: The film scored in the low-90% range when averaging the number of auds who rated the film either “excellent” or “very good.” Concerning men under 25, the pic scored even higher, just below 100%.
For context, it’s very rare for a film to receive those sort of scores; it’s even rarer for horror films. READ MORE
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