The new vampire horror-comedy movie Abigail, which boasts an ensemble cast that includes Melissa Barrera and Dan Stevens, is continuing a negative horror trend at the box office. While the wide-release horror movies of 2024 so far have almost all turned a profit, results have nevertheless been lukewarm and there have not yet been any runaway smash hits at the level of 2022’s M3GAN and Smile or 2023’s Five Nights at Freddy’s. So far, the highest-grossing horror outing of the year is Blumhouse’s Night Swim, which opened to $11 million and eventually earned $54.1 million against its $15 million budget.

Per Deadline, the Abigail release has taken in a 3-day opening weekend gross of $10 million at the domestic box office. International grosses have added to the total for a global opening of $15.2 million. While this should put the movie on track to earn a profit, especially considering the fact that it has yet to open in quite a few major international markets, the movie’s break-even point is likely somewhere around $56 million given its $28 million budget, so it may not climb much higher beyond that total.

Can 2024 Horror Turn Itself Around?

There Are Plenty More Horror Movies On Their Way After Abigail

With the exception of the found footage movie Late Night with the Devil, which earned IFC’s highest-grossing opening weekend ever but had a relatively quiet release maxing out at 1,442 theaters, major 2024 horror movies have had a similarly lukewarm commercial reception. Additionally, as movie theaters get half of ticket sales, movies generally need to make at least twice their budget back in order to break even, something that neither The First Omen nor Lisa Frankenstein were able to do. Below, see how the most prominent wide-release horror movies of the year have fared so far:

The newest entry in the genre seems to be following suit so far, despite strong Abigail reviews earning the movie a Rotten Tomatoes score of 83%. It remains to be seen if the horror genre can turn this dispiriting trend around before the end of 2024, but there are plenty of movies set to premiere in the coming months that have the chance to become major hits. This includes franchise movies such as The Strangers: Chapter 1, A Quiet Place: Day One,
Alien: Romulus, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Smile 2,
Terrifier 3, and the Nosferatu remake.

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Universal’s latest vampire movie, Abigail, boasts incredible reviews, which is a reminder of what Nicolas Cage’s 2023 horror movie should have been.

Smaller upcoming horror movies have also been garnering buzz, including The Watchers, Cuckoo, and Longlegs. Any of these releases could prove to be commercial successes, though one promising title, Saw XI, was delayed to 2025, which could damage the year’s overall prospects. In spite of that, ultimately, horror should find success soon after the release of Abigail in one way or another, even though it has been an unusually quiet few months for the genre.

Source: Deadline

Abigail (2024)

Abigail is a 2024 horror thriller directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. The plot follows a group of people who kidnap the daughter of a dangerous crime lord only to discover that the little girl is actually a vicious vampire out for blood. Alisha Weir stars as the titular character alongside Kathryn Newton, Melissa Barrera, and Dan Stevens.

Director

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin , Tyler Gillett

Release Date

April 19, 2024

Distributor(s)

Universal Pictures

Writers

Guy Busick , Stephen Shields

Cast

Kathryn Newton , Dan Stevens , Giancarlo Esposito , Kevin Durand , Melissa Barrera , Alisha Weir , Angus Cloud , William Catlett