Despite largely positive reviews (including ours) and good buzz from horror fans, the vampire ballerina horror flick Abigail didn’t find much of an audience when it opened in theaters last month. As of yesterday, the film has only grossed about $22.7 million domestically, and now, only two weeks (and change) since it opened, Universal is giving it a premium VOD release. Starting tomorrow, you can buy it (for $24.99) or rent it ($19.99) from most digital retailers. It will likely also be out on Universal’s Peacock streaming service before long.
Yesterday, in my weekend box office report, I mentioned that one of the reasons a movie like The Fall Guy had such an underwhelming result at the box office this weekend was due to shrinking home media windows. Abigail only opened on April 19th, meaning it’s getting a VOD release in not even three weeks since its theatrical debut, which is a TINY window. Why should people be expected to shell out cash when they know they can pretty much own a copy of the film for the same price it would have cost them to see it in a premium theatre?
Of course, horror fans can usually be relied upon to see a film in theaters, even if it’s a day-and-date release. A simultaneous release on Peacock certainly didn’t hurt Five Nights at Freddy’s last year. Maybe there was just something about Abigail that didn’t speak to the horror community. Whatever the case, Radio Silence’s (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett) ultra-gory vampire flick may well find a cult following now that it’s hitting home media. In it, a group of would-be criminals kidnap a 12-year-old ballerina to extort her obscenely wealthy father. Naturally, she turns out to be a vampire.
The film stars Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Alisha Weir and many others. You can check out our interviews with the whole gang right here!
Did you miss Abigail in theaters, and will you be checking it out on VOD? Let us know in the comments!
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