ABIGAIL | THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE | SPY x FAMILY CODE: WHITE openings | Horror movies overview | April 19 to 21, 2024 weekend
Opening weekend box office, charts and commentary
The current weekend: April 19 to 21, 2024
1) Abigail opening
- This is a solid opening for a new horror film. The start is better than average for a single-episode release, but not in the league of a new horror series launch. Critics' reviews are excellent, with a B CinemaScore from audiences, which is good for the genre:
The cost of the movie was not cheap for a horror production (est. $28m), but Abigail should get to profitability after overseas and ancillary revenue is counted. (More on horror films below.)
2) The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare opening
- This is a soft opening for an espionage thriller. Guy Ritchie has directed several giant films, including Disney's 2019 Aladdin live-action remake ($1.05 billion worldwide), and two Sherlock Holmes movies (both over $500m). Mr. Ritchie's pictures do especially well overseas — you can see it below.
Audiences like the film better than critics (an A- CinemaScore). At a cost of an est. $60m — inexpensive for this scale of production, but still a substantial budget — the movie will need to make up ground overseas:
3) Spy x Family Code: White opening
- This is a weak domestic start for a new anime release, in spite of superb critics’ reviews and audience scores (an A CinemaScore).
Like most anime titles, Spy x Family arrives having already done extremely well in Japan and Asia ($46m there to date). Anime releases play quickly domestically (a low 2.2x multiple), but again, they make most of their money in Asia:
Spy x Family is based on the hit Japanese TV series, which was based on the hit manga graphic novel. Distribution is being handled by different companies in each market; Sony-owned Crunchyroll is handling North America.
4) Horror movies overview
- With last year's releases finished playing in all markets now, the final worldwide BO total for horror films in 2023 is $2 billion. That’s an outstanding year. While most genres are climbing back from the pandemic, horror movies came all the way back. The lineup included...
Six strong sequels: The Nun 2 ($269.5m worldwide), Insidious 5 ($189.1m), Scream VI ($169m), Evil Dead Rise ($147m), The Exorcist: Believer ($136.3m), and Saw 10 ($111.8m);
And four new titles that have the potential to continue their stories, should they want to: Five Nights at Freddy's ($291.5m), M3gan ($180.1m), Talk to Me ($92m), and Cocaine Bear ($88.3m);
Blumhouse Productions had three of the top four pics in 2023 (Five Nights, Insidious and M3gan). Those films combined for $661m of ww BO, at a combined cost of est. $50m. That’s impressive:
- This year, horror movies are off to a slow start. At this time last year, M3gan, Scream VI, Cocaine Bear, and Evil Dead Rise had already opened. The big 2024 titles are dated for this summer and fall, but even then, the lineup does not look as strong as 2023.
We expect to see a few additional horror titles join the schedule by the end of the year. Horror movies seem to grow on trees, and then without warning, a new horror hit drops. It's going to take one or two breakthroughs to stay close to 2023.
- Horror movies continue to do well because: 1) they are visceral stories told using the power of the big screen; 2) they speak to young audiences who remain a central demographic at the BO; and 3) they're inexpensive to make. That’s an undeniable, winning combination.
- Complete 2023 and 2024 horror lineups and numbers are here: 2023 and 2024.