With Valentines Day weekend firmly behind us, what film dominated the box office? Was it the all-star cast of the ultimate chick-flick HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU? Or the feel-good comedy CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC? No. It wasn’t. Not even close. It was Jason f*cking Voorhees in FRIDAY THE 13TH, and not only did he dominate the box office, he chopped it in half with his machete!
Just how hard did Jason rock this weekend (which isn’t even over, as it’ll surely do more today, as it’s President’s Day in the States)? FRIDAY THE 13TH took in a whopping $42.2M in 3 days! Making it the biggest FRIDAY opening of all time, and the biggest opening of any R rated horror remake to date. This sucker was a hit on every level (the movie only cost just under $20M to make)!
So what does this mean? Expect a PART 2 announcement by the end of the week (just a guess, let’s see if it comes true), and if we’re lucky, maybe we’ll see a comeback of more R rated slasher flicks in general, as it proves that when it’s marketed properly, a horror movie can succeed, even when it’s not PG-13.
FRIDAY THE 13TH continues the trend of financial success for horror flicks in 2009, as THE UNBORN, MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D, and UNDERWORLD: RISE OF THE LYCANS all racked in over $20M their opening weekends. Of course, Jason slaughtered all of their asses, but still… 2009 is shaping up to be a great year in horror, and it’s only February!
Be sure to voice your opinion on what you thought about the new FRIDAY THE 13TH over at our latest MOVIE POLL, and if you haven’t, go see FRIDAY THE 13TH today! If we’re lucky, maybe they’ll get it right with PART 2…