Movies
‘Immaculate’ and ‘Late Night with the Devil’ Broke Records for Their Distributors in the Same Weekend
Hollywood franchise film Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire topped the box office over the weekend, but the most exciting box office story of the week was all about fresh original horror.
Neon released the Sydney Sweeney horror movie Immaculate into theaters the very same weekend that IFC Films unleashed Late Night with the Devil at the domestic box office. The good news? Both films exceeded expectations in their opening weekends!
Let’s start with Neon’s Immaculate, which broke through the crowded box office schedule thanks to clever marketing, rave reviews from the festival scene, and Sydney Sweeney’s rising star. The nunsploitation horror movie opened in the #4 spot on the domestic charts, scaring up an impressive $5.3 million across 2,354 theaters in its opening weekend here in the States.
Here’s the important context on that number. It’s the highest opening weekend for Neon in the company’s history, surpassing films like Ferrari, Parasite, Spencer and Infinity Pool.
The reported production budget for Immaculate was around $9 million, so there’s a good chance it will end up becoming profitable as the weeks go on here in early 2024.
And Neon still has a huge year ahead, with horror movies Cuckoo and Longlegs also headed our way soon. Will either film top Immaculate‘s opening weekend? Stay tuned to find out.
Coming in at #6 on the weekend charts was IFC Films’ Late Night with the Devil, a 1970s-set horror movie starring David Dastmalchian that similarly benefited from a wave of discourse and attention-grabbing marketing. Whether it was the AI debate or the Stephen King rave that drove people to the theaters, Late Night with the Devil is a hit for IFC Films.
Late Night with the Devil opened to $2.8 million in 1,034 theaters, making it the highest opening weekend for IFC Films. The film is next coming to Shudder on April 19, 2024.
Take notes, Hollywood. The people want horror all year round.
‘Immaculate’
It’s now been five years since the release of sequel Happy Death Day 2U, Christopher Landon’s sequel to the Groundhog Day-style slasher movie from 2017. Both films star Jessica Rothe as final girl Tree Gelbman, and director Christopher Landon had been planning on bringing the character – and the actor – back for a third installment. So… where is it?!
We’ve been talking about a potential Happy Death Day 3 for several years now, with the ball in producer Jason Blum’s court. Happy Death Day 2U scared up $64 million at the worldwide box office, a far cry from the first film’s $125 million. But with a reported production budget of just $9 million, that first sequel was profitable for Blumhouse. So again… where is it?!
Chatting with Screen Geek this week while promoting her new action-thriller Boy Kills World, franchise star Jessica Rothe provided a hopeful update on Happy Death Day 3.
“Well, I can say Chris Landon has the whole thing figured out,” Rothe explains. “We just need to wait for Blumhouse and Universal to get their ducks in a row.
Rothe continues in her comments to Screen Geek, “But my fingers are so crossed. I think Tree [Gelbman] deserves her third and final chapter to bring that incredible character and franchise to a close or a new beginning.”
Back in 2020, Christopher Landon had revealed that the working title for the third installment was Happy Death Day to Us, said to be “different than the other two films.”
In the meantime, Christopher Landon is directing a mysterious thriller titled Drop for Blumhouse and Platinum Dunes, along with a werewolf movie titled Big Bad for Lionsgate.
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