Despite heavy marketing and a lot of buzz coming from its surprise announcement at San Diego Comic Con, Adam Wingard’s sequel Blair Witch has fallen below expectations.
Showing on over 3,100 screens, Blair Witch managed just $9 million domestically coming second to Sully in its second week of release. It did fend off Bridget Jones’s Baby, but it didn’t reach the high projections of opening to $20+ million that many experts had it down to do. Internationally, Blair Witch added another $4.9 million to its total, giving it a worldwide total of $14.5 million.
It hasn’t done well with critics either [though we quite liked it], and a CinemaScore of D+ doesn’t bode well for growth. However, Blair Witch only has a reported budget of $5 million, meaning its already earned its money back and then some.
SEE ALSO: Adam Wingard talks Blair Witch secrecy, the daunting task of making a sequel, hatred for Book of Shadows and more
This puts Blair Witch way down when compared to other opening weekends from horror movies in 2016. Released a few weeks earlier, Don’t Breathe managed a much better $26 million and Light’s Out scored an impressive $21 million.
Released in 1999, The Blair Witch Project opened to $29 million and grossed $248 million worldwide on a budget of just $60,ooo. Its sequel, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 opened to $13 million, but only grossed $47 million.
Blair Witch director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett where in good spirits about the whole thing though.
https://twitter.com/AdamWingard/status/777552291939229696
It’s been 20 years since James’s sister and her two friends vanished into the Black Hills Forest in Maryland while researching the legend of the Blair Witch, leaving a trail of theories and suspicions in their wake.
Blair Witch is out in cinemas now.
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https://youtu.be/b7Ozs5mj5ao?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
Originally published September 18, 2016. Updated April 13, 2018.
