UPDATE: 2025-07-25 08:31 EST BY BRENNAN KLEIN
Heart Eyes Surges Even Higher With Sunday Update
As of Sunday,Heart Eyesprojected week-on-week growth has been adjusted from 18% to 22%, a 4% surge that improves its stature even more, but does not affect the record mentioned in the article.
Heart Eyeshas entered the slasher pantheon with a week 2 drop that comes close to smashing an all-time record. The movie, which was directed by Josh Ruben from a screenplay by Christopher Landon, Michael Kennedy, and Phillip Murphy, follows a pair of coworkers (Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding) who are being hunted by a killer who stalks couples on Valentine’s Day. TheHeart Eyesreleasekicked off on February 7, opening at No. 2 behind the sophomore weekend ofDog Manbut above fellow holiday-themed new releaseLove Hurts.
PerDeadline, as of Saturday morning,Heart Eyesis projected to earn a 3-day total of $9.8 million by the end of its sophomore weekend at the domestic box office. Although the horror genre typically experiences harsh week 2 drops of 50% or more, this total will instead see itrising 18% from its opening weekend gross of $8.3 million.
As revealed byBox Office Mojo’s chart, this would give itthe third-smallest week 2 drop of all time for any slasher movie that opened in 600 theaters or more, falling behind only 2022’s surprise hitTerrifier 2(+28%) and the 1996 franchise-kickstarting zeitgeist smashScream(+42.8%). There are no other slasher movies among the 200 titles on the chart of the smallest week 2 drops, which bottoms out with the 1994 animated movieThe Swan Princess(-7%).
What This Means For Heart Eyes
It Breaks Longstanding Slasher Tradition
There are likely quite a few reasons that the 2025 slasher movie has seen such an unparalleled resurgence at the box office. The major reason is likely the fact thatits holiday setting makes it perfect Valentine’s Day viewing, and the romantic holiday on which it takes place fell on the Friday of its sophomore weekend.Heart Eyesreviewshave also been generally superb, earning it a Certified Fresh score of 80% on Rotten Tomatoes with a nearly matching audience score of 79%.
Heart Eyesis one in a line of Valentine’s Day-themed slashers that includes 1981’sMy Bloody Valentineand 2001’sValentine.
However, this is still a remarkable feat considering the typical fate of slasher movies. Evensome of the highest-grossing slasher movies of all time have collapsed in their second weekends, following the typical horror movie release pattern. This includes 2018’sHalloween(which fell 58.8% after a $76.2 million debut), 1997’sScream 2(-57.7% after a $32.9 million debut), 2003’sFreddy vs. Jason(-63.2% after a $36.4 million debut), and 2009’sFriday the 13th(-80.4% after a $40.6 million debut, the 25th biggest week 2 drop of all time).
Our Take On The Heart Eyes Box Office
Week 2 Could Indicate A Bright Future
The 2025 slasher movie still has a way to climb before it earns a profit. Its reported $18 million budget could mean that it needs to earn $45 million to break even, a milestone which its cumulative $22.5 million domestic total has not yet reached. However, its near-unparalleled growth, even during the weekend that the newCaptain Americamovie premiered, showed thatit could very well have long legs at the box officethat may eventually guarantee that a sequel will soon follow, continuing the story after the seemingly conclusiveHeart Eyesending.
