Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema have been on a winning streak lately, especially as far as their horror titles go. Final Destination: Bloodlines, Weapons, and The Conjuring: Last Rites were all significant hits, but their latest, They Will Kill You, is looking at a more modest opening. As per Deadline’s figures, the film, which was well-reviewed (including by us), only mustered $1 million in previews last night. While not an especially abysmal figure, for a horror film this is low. Final Destination: Bloodlines and Weapons both made over $5 million in previews. The $1 million start is actually $200K lower than what Ready or Not: Here I Come made last week — $1.2 million. That one had a low-key $9 million weekend.
Why Isn’t They Will Kill You Breaking Out?
In my predictions, I guessed it would do about $8 million, and that seems about right. So why isn’t it performing better? My thought is that too many horror movies have come out in the last few weeks — but what really hurts it is how similar the premise is to Ready or Not: Here I Come. Both are female-focused action/horror hybrids where the heroine is hunted in a single location by a satanic cult. It was a bad idea to open these so close together, and they seem to have cannibalized each other’s box office. A January release would have served They Will Kill You much better.
Project Hail Mary Keeps Dominating
Otherwise, Project Hail Mary is continuing to lead the box office, making over $6 million last night. It’s already made $109.7 million. This weekend should tell us whether this is going to be a $200–250 million blockbuster, or one that goes even higher. With numbers like this, no wonder Amazon is already pushing for Project Hail Mary 2, even if that somewhat defeats the reason it’s a hit in the first place — it’s not a sequel.
Will You See They Will Kill You?
Are you going to give They Will Kill You a shot this weekend? Let us know in the comments.
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