February of 2016 will go down as one of the most important months in recent cinema history.
Fox’s R-rated Deadpool adaptation is one of Marvel’s biggest comic book movies ever. It was a project that Fox had internally perceived as a black sheep, but took a risk when test footage leaked online back in 2014.
Speaking of black sheep, Black Phillip became a household name thanks to A24’s ballsy release of Robert Eggers’ The Witch, which we’ve been championing here on Bloody Disgusting.
The Witch, a small independent film that had its World Premiere at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, has been the focus of many think pieces this weekend after a low cinema score and fans screaming that it was “overhyped.”
Overhyped or not, A24 put a small horror movie in theaters everywhere, and saw it pay off in huge dividends. In its opening weekend The Witch pulled in $8.6 million with a $15+ million U.S. run very likely. Sure, that’s peanuts compared to films like Deadpool, but for a mini-studio that’s impressive.
Was it “overhyped”? Who cares. The point everyone is missing is that A24 took a huge risk, and it payed off. Additionally, A24 got people into a theater to see an art-house horror film that normally would get the ol’ VOD dump.
It’s a big deal because people vote with their money and distributors make their decisions based on votes (sound familiar?).
The Witch‘s success is nowhere near that of The Blair Witch Project, but it has instilled the confidence of companies like A24 who may not hesitate to take a chance on their next indie horror film.
This time last year Dimension took a chance on David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows to similar results: a strong box office showing and the label of being overhyped.
None of us know the impact of It Follows on A24’s decision to take a late winter risk on The Witch, but the message is the same – people will show up to see a unique and bizarre movie if they’re aware of its existence.
With the rash of half-baked horror films that get dumped weekly to various streaming outlets, it’s hard to penetrate the fanbase looking for that diamond in the rough.
We shouldn’t be debating how “hyped” The Witch was, we should instead be celebrating a win for us horror fans who have been begging companies like A24 (we worship thee!) to share those special films with the world that would otherwise be ignored (or overlooked).
