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Until Dawn is racing against the clock to cross the $50 million mark globally with only a few days left before Final Destination: Bloodlines crashes into theaters. Despite lukewarm reviews, it has held its own, pulling in $18 million from domestic screens and adding another $26 million overseas. That puts the total at a respectable $44 million (Via Box Office Mojo), which is not bad for a horror flick on a $15 million budget.
Until Dawn has done better than a few recent genre outings, even though it hasn’t caught fire like horror movies used to, it even edged past Robert Eggers’ breakout film The Witch, which remains a critical darling.
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However, the horror landscape has been shifting, and audiences have shown more interest in high-concept and artsier scares lately. Films like The Monkey are making waves this year, and Eggers’ Nosferatu dominated the conversation last year.
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Sony took a gamble on Until Dawn, a cinematic take on the popular video game. While it hasn’t been a breakout, it’s far from a flop. Still, when compared to something like Lights Out, another low-budget horror debut, this time from David F. Sandberg, the numbers fall short. That movie made nearly $150 million without any recognizable IP backing it.
Sandberg’s trajectory since then has been nothing short of wild. He followed Lights Out with Annabelle: Creation, which pulled in more than $300 million worldwide. From there, he dipped into superheroes with Shazam! and its sequel, though the DC Extended Universe fizzled out around the same time. His latest horror effort, Until Dawn, hasn’t caught the same fire. The reviews have been split down the middle, with Rotten Tomatoes showing a 54% score.
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Even so, some critics, like Collider’s Ross Bonaime, appreciated the clever way the film plays with horror traditions and video game mechanics. A part of his review read, “It’s also a smart way to adapt this game, as instead of allowing the player to make decisions that eventually lead to different deaths, here, we get to see the reckoning of each individual choice.”
The movie, starring Ella Rubin, Michael Cimino, Odessa A’zion, Ji-young Yoo, and Belmont Cameli, is still holding its ground in theaters. Whether Until Dawn gains a second wind or fades out quietly, the genre has bigger swings on the horizon. Franchises are prepping their return, with The Conjuring: Last Rites and 28 Years Later waiting in the wings.
Note: Box office numbers are based on estimates and various sources. Numbers have not been independently verified by Koimoi.
Stay tuned to Koimoi for more box office stories & updates!
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