Fantastic marketing and strong word-of-mouth can carry a horror film to great heights. Just look at the success of Longlegs, which has held its own against massive blockbusters.
After competing at the box office against Despicable Me 4, Twisters, and Deadpool & Wolverine, the Osgood Perkins-directed film was able to rack up the cash. As of today, Longlegs has earned $67.5 million, officially surpassing Furiosa‘s $67.4 million at the domestic box office.
For comparison, one of those films was made for under $10 million, while the other cost nearly $170 million to produce.
Longlegs found a home with horror fans and mainstream moviegoers, and it has continued to draw in (and some returning) viewers week after week. Many have credited the cryptic teaser or “selective reviews” before the release, but those were all weeks ago now, and the Neon-released film still draws folks in. A good horror film and solid counter-programming to the average summer blockbuster fodder really played a factor, giving genre fans a home outside of whatever Universal or Disney is cooking up.
The film has already had impressive numbers for the studio, surpassing Parasite as the highest-grossing film released by the studio and continuing the momentum from fellow Neon release Immaculate from earlier in the year. With Smile a few years back and movies like Terrifier dominating, horror is in a great spot with moviegoers.
Stay tuned to Flickering Myth for more updates on Longlegs, like when the film will receive its digital and physical debut.
SEE ALSO: The Essential Serial Killer Films
FBI Agent Lee Harker is assigned to an unsolved serial killer case that takes an unexpected turn, revealing evidence of the occult. Harker discovers a personal connection to the killer and must stop him before he strikes again.
Directed by Gretel & Hansel‘s Oz Perkins, Longlegs stars modern-day scream queen Maika Monroe (It Follows) as FBI Agent Harker and Nicolas Cage, alongside Blair Underwood, Kiernan Shipka, Alicia Witt, and Lisa Chandler.
