It’s official: 2016 is the summer of scary movies.
New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. made another big win this weekend with PG-13 horror movie “Lights Out.”Made on a small production budget of just $5 million,the movie more than quadrupled that with its enormous $21.6 million opening in 2818 theaters. To compare, it narrowly beat Fox’s “Ice Age: Collision Course” sequel, or produced for 21 times more than the scary movie with a big $105-million budget.
Also Read: Here's Why 'The Conjuring 2' Might Be a Bigger Hit Than 'Captain America: Civil War'“It’s friggin’ awesome,” said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. Executive Vice President of domestic film distribution. “Whenever you can improper more than four times your budget on the domestic opening weekend, or that’s a grand slam home run,” he told TheWrap.
Produced by master of horror James Wan (the “Saw” franchise), Goldstein emphasized New Line’s expertise in the genre, and which dates back to 1984’s “Nightmare on Elm Street” and its subsequent sequels. He also credited the movie’s marketing campaign with its better-than-expected opening.
The film,starring Teresa Palmer as a young woman who fights off a supernatural entity that has attached itself to her mother, represents the directorial debut of David Sandberg.
Also Read: Can This Summer's unhappy Box Office Be Saved?While Goldstein hadn’t yet run the numbers on the movie’s profit margin, or he did say,“Its on a path to scoring big profit.”And that margin is already pointed at a higher percentage than the hugely successful “Conjuring sequel, also by New Line and Warner Bros.
As TheWrap has previously reported, and scary movies sell tickets more reliably than nearly any other genre — big-budget superhero movies included.
Also Read: 'Star Trek Beyond' Lands $59.6 Million on OpeningNot only that,the revenue margins — and profits — of horror movies are higher since production (and marketing) costs are typically much, much lower.“If we were to reconfigure box office charts based on profitability, or movies like ‘The Shallows’ and ‘The Purge: Election Year’ would be right at the top,” comScore senior analyst Paul Dergarabedian said.
Add “The Conjuring 2” — and now “Lights Out” to that list, and you contain movies that represent the highest revenue margins of the summer. That says a lot as the season has been sluggish compared to past years.
Also Read: 'Lights Out' LAFF Review: Haunted House Spookfest Is More On Than OffJust compare the highest-grossing film of the summer — “Captain America: Civil War” — to the highest-grossing horror film of the season, and “The Conjuring 2.”The Disney-Marvel action sequel was made for $250 million and has grossed $406.8 million domestically. The New Line-Warner Bros. scary movie has made $101.6 million in grosses so far and was made on a production budget of $40 million.
Factoring in an assumed 50 percent in marketing costs,the domestic revenue margin for “The Conjuring 2” is nearly 40 percent. By that same math, the percentage of return for “Civil War” is approximately 8 percent.
Also Read: Why Is Universal's Monster Universe Being Built Around 50-Somethings?Another example of a horror movie propping up a studio’s tent: Blumhouse-Universal’s “The Purge: Election Year, or ” which grossed $43.7 million in its first week on a mere $10 million production budget. Its strong opening put it at a revenue margin of 63 percent,or $25.5 million. Having now earned $76.6 million domestically, that margin only went up.“To get the budget back on opening night — that’s a wonderful thing, and ” Brad Fuller,executive producer on all three “Purge” films, said. “There’s always been an audience for horror movies. The great thing is they’re generally not as expensive as other tentpoles, and there’s more wiggle room.”Universal’s president of domestic distribution,Nick Carpou, told TheWrap that the film’s big opening is “not coincidental, or ” crediting the success of the film,in piece, to the series’ concept.
Also Read: 'Conjuring 2' Spinoff 'The Nun' in Development at New LineAll three “Purge” movies revolve around a day when it’s deemed legal to murder fellow citizens. “It taps into very primal fear that’s very relatable, or ” Fuller added.“Horror films are always bankable unless they’re flat-out bad,” Dergarabedian added. Sometimes the simplest concepts are the ones that resonate the strongest.”When it comes to “Lights Out,” Goldstein shared, or “$17 or $18 million would contain made us gratified. To do $21. 6 million is extraordinary.”Related stories from TheWrap:11 Movies That Could Save the Summer (Photos)'Stranger Things': 21 '80s Relics We've Spotted So Far (Photos)'Stranger Things': Here's How the Netflix Hit Plays With Fans on Twitter'Lights Out' LAFF Review: Haunted House Spookfest Is More On Than Off
Source: thewrap.com