Horror Report

Category: Box office

  • LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL earns $666,666 on Palm Sunday

    LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL earns $666,666 on Palm Sunday

    You can’t make it up.. bit all joking aside is this a wee bit too..strange.. for confort?

    The  indie horror film “Late Night With the Devil” opened this weekend across 1,034 venues where it made $2.8 million and ended up in sixth place.

    However our eyebrows are rising now that final numbers are being analyzed .. it has been revealed that the film’s estimated Palm Sunday one-day haul is coming in at $666,666 according to trade paper Variety..

    No joke..

    From Variety:

    On the independent scene, “Late Night With the Devil” took sixth place and summoned $2.8 million from 1,034 venues, including (and you can’t make this up) $666,666 on Sunday. This marks the biggest opening weekend for its distributor IFC Films, overtaking 2022’s “Watcher” with $826,775. The low-budget thriller stars David Dastmalchian as a late-night talk show host who keeps the cameras rolling during a live Satanic incident. 

    “This weekend’s release of ‘Late Night With the Devil’ set fire to our old opening record,” says Scott Shooman, head of AMC Networks Films, which encompasses IFC. “[It] continues to showcase that there is still potential for highly reviewed, intelligent auteur films in movie theaters across all genres.”

    666 for the devil on one of the holiest days of the year.

  • LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL AI art continues on social media.. reports indicate good crowds in major cities while others hate it as much as SKINAMARINK!

    LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL AI art continues on social media.. reports indicate good crowds in major cities while others hate it as much as SKINAMARINK!

    Let’s first start with this: There was something very calming about watching the horror flick LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL in a theater with a packed audience.. we highly recommend it if you can find a theater showing it.

    Now that we have that out of the way…

    The Shudder horror film LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL was getting rave reviews and even had a 100% rotten rating on ROTTEN TOMATOES.. While it is maintaining a decent rating with critics and an 83% with audiences, controversy marred the opening weekend.

    At issue: The AI art..

    Just a few images, really. But those images caused shockwaves of hostility across social media platforms..

    When it was revealed this week that the film used some AI imagery, there were immediate calls for a boycott of the movie.

    Cameron and Colin Cairnes, the Australian siblings who wrote and directed the film, released a statement to Variety clarifying the scope of AI art in the film. The statement reads:

    “In conjunction with our amazing graphics and production design team, all of whom worked tirelessly to give this film the 70s aesthetic we had always imagined, we experimented with AI for three still images which we edited further and ultimately appear as very brief interstitials in the film. We feel incredibly fortunate to have had such a talented and passionate cast, crew and producing team go above and beyond to help bring this film to life. We can’t wait for everyone to see it for themselves this weekend.”

    But consider the fact that the film was made prior to 2024.. released originally in 2023 (long before the current AI debate really hit like it’s doing now) … Can we get some forgiveness?

    Beyond the AI controversy, some truly despised this movie–others seemingly loved it. Perusing the former Twitterverse now Xsphere, we are greeted by a number of people who hated the film giving it a o out of 10.. others who loved it with a 9 out of 10. There seems to be little meeting in the middle among fans.

    Seriously.. David Dastmalchian rocked this role.

    The movie will be in some people’s top 10 of horror.. others will not think to include it.

    It appears this film is going the same route as last year’s SKINAMARINK, also heralded by some in 2023 while others were purely disgusted by that film.

    At the point this is written, IFC’s LATE NIGHT is showing in 1,034 locations .. it posted a $1.1M Friday, 3-day heading to $2.9M. From reports, there are solid numbers in NYC, Toronto, Salt Lake City, Edmonton, Dallas, San Antonio and LA..

    DEVELOPING..

  • Fresh Devils vs Frozen Ghosts at weekend box office

    Fresh Devils vs Frozen Ghosts at weekend box office

    So many have been looking forward to March 22 for a long time–movies to finally choose from at a box office that may be enjoyable!!

    GHOSTBUSTERS FROZEN EMPIRE is taking on another little movie that could, LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL, this weekend..

    So many are hopeful that the old busters will make them feel nostalgic inside, the magic may be wearing thing. The 30 year rule has passed–the idea that nostalgia only works well if this movie would have been made in 2014, not 2024..

    That said, it will most likely do well, even with reviews that are less then stellar like this from BLOODY DISGUSTING:

    Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire can’t decide between nostalgia, humor, or heart. So, it opts for a scattershot version of all three. Whereas Afterlife grappled with family legacy, Frozen Empire isn’t sure of itself beyond addressing the shift from old guard to new. But it’s still far too reliant on nostalgia to serve as the next step in the franchise’s evolution, and that also includes the formula, right down to updated lines like “Are you the flame master?” It winds up a series of charming moments cast adrift amidst an overly simplistic, familiar story.

    But the other movie set to draw attention from horror fans is LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL–it has received mostly decent press at this point. The movie’s limited release is unfortunate, too bad it is not wide, but it is exciting. Hopefully you will be able to find a theater showing the movie — it seems like it is just one of those that needs to be experienced in a dark theater on a big screen..

    It is predictable that the seniors will be top dogs at the box.. Nostalgia will get one last win for the Gipper of 1984 Slimer fame.

  • Dream Scenario was a wild movie.. you all should watch it– especially if you have the flu :)

    Dream Scenario was a wild movie.. you all should watch it– especially if you have the flu 🙂

    image

    This movie is a must-see.. I watched DREAM SCENARIO during the final days of my recovery from influenza B last week–a little too weak to write up anything in relation to the movie.

    Anyway, long story short, this film may be one of the wildest, craziest, funniest, scariest, and deeply moving films about human existence and dreams and all of this madness that I ever saw.

    I truly recommend it.

    Some of you out there may hate it! Some may love it.. Nic Cage might scare the ever living piss out of you when you watch it. But in the end, this movie has profound meaning–if you allow it to.

    It begins in such a way that gave me nostalgia to the “This Man” of the late 2000s, back when some dude made us all believe in a hoax for a few days that everyone was seeing ‘this man’ in dreams. *that website still is online by the way*

    image

    While it became apparent no one ever dreamed of that man–at least not organically–DREAM SCENARIO brings us to a world where it would be true. People randomly of Professor Paul Matthews.

    What would happen to him? And us..

    It is a truly remarkable performance and has quickly escalated into one of my top ten movies of all time just after one viewing.

    Give it a whirl..

  • Bob Iger marvels at the blame for failure

    Bob Iger marvels at the blame for failure

    Bob Iger is not in reality.. he is blaming the ‘pandemic effect’ for dismal performance of MARVELS.. little did he realize people just .. didn’t like it. Period.


    MORE.. ″The Marvels was shot during Covid,” he explained.

    “There wasn’t as much supervision on the set, so to speak, where we have executives [that are] really looking over what’s being done day after day after day.”

    Bob, Bob.. the movie may have been shot then but all of the advertising was done after..

    All of the big splashy product placements.. billboards. Trailers.

    Not one bit sparked interest .. the fanbase seemingly gave up when all of the characters they were fans of were pushed to the side for a new universe that no one seems to understand or desire..

    What would Elon Musk have to say about this..?

  • The fall of the house of Marvel

    The fall of the house of Marvel

    There is tremendous hand wringing about the movie THE MARVELS and its release at the box office. Its failure has been blamed on mail dominated fan bases–bias! Discrimination! The movie was just so perfect but yet not appreciated.

    But a viewing of the film.. really.. can prove otherwise. The script was weak. The lines were awful. Any small bits of humors were far and few between and for the most part it was a showcase of how we are at a point of no return with comic book movies. They have worn us down.

    And even the greatest Marvels fans? Well they too may be done with all this madness in the Marvelverse!

    The first week for the film was fairly low. The next week it dropped substantially. We are now at a point where the studio is going to be hardpressed to make much money from this movie.

  • $78 MILLION AT FREDDY’S!

    $78 MILLION AT FREDDY’S!

    Move over movie critics.. You officially don’t matter.

    The reviews are in. They aren’t pretty. And no one who wanted to see the film cared.

    Now did people want to enjoy or just laugh? Tough to tell..

    But Blumhouse will laugh to the bank regardless with a $78 million weekend for a film that was not predicted to get close to MARIO BROS levels..

    Other poms poms for Freddy‘s:

    –Biggest opening weekend for a horror pic YTD, besting Scream VI ($44.4M)

    –Third biggest opening ever for a videogame pic, behind Super Mario Bros ($146.3M) and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 ($72M)

    DEVELOPING..

  • Box Office: Five Nights at Freddy’s Sees ‘Oppenheimer’-Like $10M Previews

    Box Office: Five Nights at Freddy’s Sees ‘Oppenheimer’-Like $10M Previews

    This is amazing! Keep spiting those reviewers who don’t matter!

    Enjoy the season!

    This from DEADLINE:

    SATURDAY AM: Refresh for more analysis and chart Universal/Blumhouse’s Five Nights at Freddy’s is meeting the expectations of all those crazy projections that were out there. Since yesterday midday when we saw $68M, the Emma Tammi directed feature take of the videogame, which is also co-written by the game’s creator Scott Cawthon is looking at $78M weekend. Some have this movie at near Oppenheimer‘s opening ($82.4M), not that the movie will leg out to north of $300M in the end, but it’s fun to see how Universal in its marketing, literally repeated that type of moviegoer turnout again; another title here that’s harnessed the spirit of fans.
    — Read on deadline.com/2023/10/box-office-five-nights-at-freddys-1235584788/

  • Reviews are in: FIVE NIGHTS at FREDDY’S tracking low in the rotten tomatoes count.. but who cares!! See it anyway!!

    Reviews are in: FIVE NIGHTS at FREDDY’S tracking low in the rotten tomatoes count.. but who cares!! See it anyway!!

    …maybe the movie just needed NIC CAGE like Willy’s Wonderland..

    After all the build up to FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’s, the reviews are in. Rotten Tomatoes is counting it as as rotten..

    At PG-13, will the pre and just teens go see the FNAF film that they played all through their single digits??

    At the time this is written, it has a 25% critic score.

    But what do they know anyway!?

    Just a few snippets:

    “Caught between PG and R, as well as lost at the crossroads of inadvertent comedy and horror, the PG-13 Five Nights at Freddy’s has to go down as one of the poorest films in any genre this year.”

    “A weird horror concoction, fleetingly clever in the early going before gumming up the gears down the home stretch.”

    “One problem is that the title imposes a stop-and-start structure which keeps killing the momentum. One scary night would work better than five with time-outs for daytime plot about the evil auntie or a deep backstory.”

    “Expanding the game’s simple, primal premise with a surfeit of character melodrama, it’s a Five Nights at Freddy’s that labors under the bizarre assumption that the loyal fanbase wants a lot of extraneous plot surrounding the fun-center horror.”

    But does it matter???

    We are getting word of this tonight: Five Nights at Freddy‘s is eyeing a $50 million-plus start and possibly even more. At that level, it would make it the second-best domestic box office opening of the fall behind Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour !!

    x x x

    Developing this weekend…

  • No more true believers in the Exorcist franchise

    No more true believers in the Exorcist franchise

    Well…. It flopped.

    Various sources this morning are lamenting a weak weekend release for THE EXORCIST. Despite some appealing early buzz, the movie seemingly lost its way. It will reportedly earn $27 mil this weekend in domestic runs. Keep in mind the studio purchased the rights for .. drumroll.. $400 million

    Buyers remorse as the devil is in the details.

    Reporting from DEADLINE with analysis of what went wrong:

    Universal originally had the horror theatrical release date of Friday the 13th this month before AMC’s Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour landed on that date. However, going earlier really wasn’t the problem here for Exorcist: Believer. It was always in the execution.

    Social media analytics firm RelishMix noticed online chatter that had many piling on the rhetorical issue of remakes, as they questioned, “Why re-paint the Mona Lisa of Horror?”

    While horror has been bankable during the pandemic, and this opening for Exorcist: Believer (despite coming in under tracking’s $30M projection) in the wheelhouse of other genre openings, Evil Dead ($24.5M), Smile ($22.6M), The Black Phone ($23.6M) and Nun II‘s $32.6M, many still say that this actors’ strike, and performers’ unable to promote their wares is truly weighing down on ticket sales. A studio just can’t scream these movies from the hilltops in their promotions on social media, at premieres and festivals. Consider the fact that the phenomenal results for 2018’s Halloween began when Blumhouse blasted off the movie at TIFF’s Midnight Madness.