The newA24horror movie has turned out a debut that has hit a devastating record low. A24 is an independent production company and distributor that was founded in 2012 and has been behind some of the most idiosyncratic and notable releases of the past decade. In addition to titles such as the 2019 thrillerUncut Gemsand the 2023wrestling biopicThe Iron Claw, A24 has released eight Best Picture nominees including two winners, namely the 2022 sci-fi action multiverse movieEverything Everywhere All At Onceand the 2016 LGBTQ+ dramaMoonlight.
Although they produce projects in a variety of different genres,A24 horror movieshave become a pillar of the brand.They began to cement their reputation for artistic horror releases in 2015, when they put out Robert Eggers’The Witch, Jeremy Saulnier’sGreen Room, and Osgood Perkins’The Blackcoat’s Daughter, after which point they began putting out horror titles more regularly. At the time of writing, three of their 10 highest-grossing movies worldwide are horror titles, namelyTalk To Me(No. 3, $91.9 million),Hereditary(No. 4, $80.9 million), andHeretic(No. 8, $58.1 million).
It Debuted Outside The Domestic Top 10
Opushas had a dismal opening weekend. The A24 horror movie, which was written and directed by Mark Anthony Green, follows a journalist (Ayo Edebiri) who is invited to the compound of a reclusive pop star (John Malkovich), where he seems to have developed a sinister cult of followers.Opusreviewshave been mixed,earning it a rough 40% Rotten Tomatoes scoredespite some good reviews, including the 7 out of 10 writeup fromScreenRant’s own Graeme Guttmann. Read an excerpt from his piece below:
There is something to be said about how fun this film is… and, along with Green’s confident direction, Opus is a glossy horror film that rises above its shortcomings. It’s more of a B-movie than some might have come to expect from A24, but for my money, that’s rarely a bad thing, especially when it’s done as well as it is here.
PerVariety, as of Sunday morning,Opusis projected to gross just $1 million in 1,764 theaters during its opening weekendat the domestic box office. This will see it premiere at No. 12 on the chart for the weekend with one of the worst wide release debuts of all time. Among movies that debuted in 1,500 theaters or more, it is the tenth-worst of all time, coming in just above the 2021 animated release,Scoob!, which had a day-and-date release in 2021 where it was streaming simultaneously on HBO Max (now Max).
Below,see how the movie compares to the worst domestic debutsthat opened in that range, perBox Office Mojo:
$327,000 (1,507)
$443,901 (2,160)
$511,920 (2,160)
$522,937 (1,683)
$656,530 (2,337)
$723,802 (2,170)
$730,290 (2,033)
$758,919 (1,525)
$850,000 (2,500)
$1 million (1,764)
$1.04 million (1,930)
What This Means For Opus
Its Future Looks Bleak
It is somewhat unclear why theOpusreleasemight be underperforming so dramatically, as the reactions to it are more middling than downright negative. Audiences on Rotten Tomatoes are about par with critics, giving it 56%, while its C+ CinemaScore isn’t out of line for an average horror release. Whatever the reason for its immediate collapse,it does not seem likely to earn back its slim $10 million budgetin theaters, let alone hit its break-even point, which is probably somewhere around $25 million.
What This Means For A24
More concerning thanOpus' own box office gross is how the movie’s poor performance could impact A24’s reputation. While last year’sHereticdid very well at the box office and even in awards circles for the leading performance from Hugh Grant,the producer had some major horror misses last year. December 2024’sY2Kreceived mixed reviews and struggled at the box office, making only $4.4 million worldwide, failing to make back its $15 million budget.
Y2Kwas not the only A24 horror release last year that struggled to connect in the way that some of its other horror films have.The Front Roommade even less thanY2K, grossing just $3.1 million over the course of its run. Even ifOpusis able to make more than these totals during its overall run, its record-breakingly low box office does not set the movie on a good path, and it makes it fall into the unfortunate trend of underperforming A24 horror films.
Looking at the studio’s release plans for 2025, this is an especially bad path to fall down. The end of the month will see the release ofDeath of a Unicornand May sees the release ofBring Her Back. In order for these movies to do well, A24 will have to shake the trend perpetuated byThe Front Room,Y2K, andOpus, and restore their positive horror reputation.
Opus
Cast
Opus is a psychological thriller film where a young writer is drawn into the secluded world of a legendary pop star who vanished decades ago. As she navigates a landscape filled with devoted followers and intrigued journalists, she uncovers the depths of the star’s enigmatic agenda.
