The prequel decimated expectations, with previous monitoring suggesting an opening in the $40 million range. That would also have made it by far the biggest opening weekend for a horror film this year. Even more encouraging is the fact that “Day One” beat the openings of both 2018’s “A Quiet Place” ($50.2 million opening, $340.9 million worldwide) and 2021’s “A Quiet Place: Part II” ($47.5 million opening, $297.3 million worldwide). Depending on how things go, this prequel I could will eventually surpass the previous two installments worldwide. Even if it doesn’t reach that mark, against a reported budget of $67 million, this film is already well on its way to profitability.
2022 saw several surprising horror hitsincluding Park Finn’s “Smile” ($217 million), “Scream” ($138 million), and “The Black Phone” ($161 million). 2023 produced similar results, with “Saw X” ($112 million), “Evil Dead Rise” ($147 million), “Scream VI” ($169 million), “M3GAN” ($180 million), “Insidious: The Red Door” ($189 million), and the blockbuster “Five Nights at Freddy’s” ($293 million) everyone brings the goods to the cinemas.
Unfortunately, we haven’t seen that pattern continue this year. Yes, we’ve had some qualified hits, like “Late Night with the Devil” and “Immaculate,” but they were hits relative to their small budgets and muted expectations. We haven’t seen any franchise hits emerge, and more importantly, no originals have emerged to score blockbuster grosses. Fortunately, the second half of the year has more promising titles. including M. Night Shyamalan’s new original thriller “Trap” and “Alien: Romulus”. Hopefully, the good run of horror is not over, it was just briefly interrupted.
“A Quiet Place: Day One” is now in theaters.
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