January 2009 is already shaping up to be the most successful January in horror movie history, at least as far as box office returns go, and this past weekend is no exception. UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS scored a cool $20.7M over the weekend, which makes it the third horror flick this month to make over $20M in its opening weekend.
The month started strong with THE UNBORN, raking in around $21M, followed by MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D just one week later, debuting with almost $22M. Talk about an awesome month thus far!
What’s even more awesome is that the two of the three horror flicks released this month have been rated R, proving that a PG-13 rating doesn’t guarantee a box office hit, nor does an R rating guarantee a box office bomb. Good shite! Now the big question is, will next weekend’s THE UNINVITED continue the trend?
I’d say the only thing standing in THE UNINVITED’s way of breaking the box office bank and cashing in more than $20M next weekend is a little thing called the Super Bowl, which (like it or not) is practically a national holiday, so chances of a huge success are low… but you never know! It could still do really well!
So while horror hasn’t had a #1 release this month, it has kicked all sorts of ass when it comes to successful openings and decent dollar amounts. With FRIDAY THE 13TH coming out next month, I’d say the trend will continue to be strong, and (hopefully) it’ll make 2009 the most successful year in horror since THE SIXTH SENSE.