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January is the first month of the year, and is oftentimes looked at as the dumping grounds for lackluster, low-quality cinema. Although I believe the stigma carries some merit, for certain, I believe the month has also been subject to more than a few exceptions to the rule. At the box office, January oftentimes is more about holdovers from December than it is the actual new releases kicking of the new year.
For example, Spider-Man: No Way Home dominated the January box office in 2022, and Avatar: The Way of Water dominated in 2023.
In February, moviegoers were treated with a new film from M. Night Shyamalan and a comedy horror film from director Elizabeth Banks.
March saw one of the heavy-hitters of the horror genre receive its latest sequel, a sequel that arrives barely a year after its last installment.
April was arguably the most interesting month of the year so far for horror films with the release of a new Evil Dead film, the first in ten years, as well as a new Dracula inspired horror film and the newest offering from horror maestro Ari Aster.
For example, Spider-Man: No Way Home dominated the January box office in 2022, and Avatar: The Way of Water dominated in 2023.
- M3GAN stood out from the crowd – grossing 182 million worldwide and becoming one of the highest grossing horror films this year. The film was benefited by solid reviews and a strong marketing campaign. A sequel is in development and scheduled for release in 2025, where they will reportedly be sticking to the January release date.
- Director Deon Taylor who is known for his parody series Meet the Blacks tried his hand at a more conventional horror film with Fear, but failed to make a splash in theaters – making only 2.1 million and receiving a negative critical reception.
- In streaming, Shudder releases Kids vs Aliens to mixed reviews and Peacock released the film Sick (from writer Kevin Williamson of Scream fame) to a positive critical reception.
In February, moviegoers were treated with a new film from M. Night Shyamalan and a comedy horror film from director Elizabeth Banks.
- M. Night Shyamalan’s latest film Knock at the Cabin received a mixed reception from critics and audiences alike, which is not the least bit uncommon for the polarizing filmmaker. The filmmaker definitely has more mixed reviews for his films than he does outright positive or outright negative reviews. Thankfully for him, things usually work out in his favor at the worldwide box office. Unfortunately, Knock at the Cabin has to be seen as at least a slight disappointment. Although the film was modestly successful, accruing 54 million worldwide off a 20 million production budget, it is a far cry from his more highs of Split and Glass, and is even considerably lower than his last film Old (which made 90 million worldwide). The modest returns are unlikely to deter the director who is expected to release a new film called Trap in August 2024 (his daughter is also expected to make her directorial debut next year)!
- Elizabeth Banks has had mixed results at the box office so far as a director. Her directorial debut Pitch Perfect 2 made a killing at the box office, but her sophomore effort Charlie’s Angels was a box office misfire. If you were to think of Cocaine Bear as the rubber match between her and the theaters, I would call it a draw. The film made nearly 90 million worldwide, but had a considerable 35 million dollar price tag attached to it. I would call that a modest success, neither a smash hit or an outright dud. Maybe the film will have a cult status on the home market that helps weigh things down in its favor.
- The horror-thriller film Consecration and The Outwaters both also received limited releases this month, with the former making 2.3 million worldwide.
March saw one of the heavy-hitters of the horror genre receive its latest sequel, a sequel that arrives barely a year after its last installment.
- Children of the Corn was released to little box office fare and an extremely negative critical reception. On Rotten Tomatoes, Children of the Corn has fourfilms with a 0% score, and I think that tells you about everything you need to know about the Stephen King based film franchise.
- Scream VII did incredibly well at the box office. This was a gamble by Spyglass Media Group and Paramount. A lot of times, these quick turnarounds lead to diminished returns or diminished quality. This could have easily been the story of Scream fizzling out, and when you look at the more recent Halloween Trilogy, which saw both incredibly diminished returns at the box office and a perceived loss in quality, it seemed destined to fail. Instead, Scream VII managed to (more or less) match the critical reception of the previous Scream film and made 30 million more than the last film (and just under what the first and second Scream film made). The consistency and endurance of this franchise is truly remarkable. Unfortunately, the future of the Scream franchise is not promising. As of this writing, both main actors are not returning (with one stepping down and one being fired), and now, it has been revealed the director who was set to replace Radio Silence has stepped down as well. I am not certain how Scream comes back from this, but it will certainly require a lot of course correction.
April was arguably the most interesting month of the year so far for horror films with the release of a new Evil Dead film, the first in ten years, as well as a new Dracula inspired horror film and the newest offering from horror maestro Ari Aster.
- Renfield was a disaster. The film received a mixed reception from moviegoers and made peanuts at the box office. Personally, I was very excited about Renfield when it was first announced. The makeup for Nicholas Cage was fantastic, and Nicholas Hoult was playing to his wheelhouse as the awkward, soft-spoken Renfield. Unfortunately, I am among the people that ended up meeting the finished product with shrugged shoulders. It’s a real shame because it is very unique and different from a lot of what comes out, and so, I wanted it to do well if only because I wanted them to have a second crack at something similar. Instead, as prefaced, Renfield was a disaster. The film had a 65 million dollar production budget and failed to gross even half of that. Let’s not even begin to factor in how much was spent on marketing it. This film didn’t break even and, unfortunately, has no chance of really ever breaking even, cult status or not.
- Ari Aster’s film Beau is Afraid was also a disaster. The director broke out with his film Hereditary and carried that momentum to another successful film Midsommar. Although Midsommar only made half of what Hereditary made, it had the benefit of a small budget and good reviews to help bolster it on the home market. Beau is Afraid received mixed reviews and had a budget of 35 million (more than Hereditary and Midsommar combined). The film made 11.5 million total, which means it is in a similar boat as Renfield, where it didn’t break even in theaters and likely never will recoup the damages on the home market. Again, it’s a shame because it is another example of something strange and different failing to be rewarded, making it that much more likely a filmmaker won’t get that chance again.
- The Pope’s Exorcist received mixed reviews, with most praising Russel Crowe’s performance but denouncing the film itself as standard or generic. The domestic return on The Pope’s Exorcist was modest at best, but, surprisingly, the film was an example of the foreign market willing a film into sleeper hit status. The film made 96 million off its 20 million dollar production budget. As of April 2023, a sequel is reportedly in development, with Crowe set to reprise his role (but that was announced at the time of the film’s release, not after the company had a chance to see domestic return).
- Evil Dead Rise was the defining film of April in horror. The film received a positive critical reception and was able to make nearly 150 million worldwide off a neat-and-tidy 15-20 million dollar production budget. This is a success story, and it’s made sweeter when you consider that it was originally meant to forego a theatrical run in favor of a streaming release on Max. The film marks a nearly 50% increase from the last Evil Dead film and made more than Scream (2022), which means I think the prospects are good for the future of the franchise.