‘Longlegs’ Is Poised To Quadruple Neon’s Previous Domestic Box Office Opening Record (2024)

Horror movies are having a long-overdue comeback after a lackluster 2024. In the wake of Paramount’s A Quiet Place: Day One debuting with a franchise-best domestic box office haul recently, Longlegsis delivering the biggest opening in indie outfit Neon’s history this weekend. Directed by Oz Perkins and starring scream queen Maika Monroe alongside Nicolas Cage, Longlegsgrossed $10 million on its first day of release, which includes the $3 million that it made in Thursday previews. The film is set for a $20 million opening weekend haul, which marks a fourfold increase over Neon’s previous top opener, Immaculate.

Starring Sydney Sweeney, Immaculate grossed a little over $5 million in its opening weekend some months ago. Longlegs’ strong opening comes on the heels of a string of studio horror under-performers this year. In fact, this is the top debut for an original horror film in 2024, and the best debut for Cage in over a decade, unless you count Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, in which he voiced a supporting character. Having drawn comparisons to The Silence of the Lambs, Longlegs opened to positive reviews, and currently sits at a “fresh” 87% rating on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. Audience response wasn’t as promising, however, with a C+ CinemaScore from the opening day crowds.

The film took the number two spot, trailing reigning champion Despicable Me 4. After a solid $122 million over its extended five-day debut last week, the animated film grossed around nearly $14 million on its second Friday, and is eyeing over $40 million this weekend. By Sunday, Despicable Me 4will have passed the massive $200 million milestone domestically, despite having debuted in the wake of Inside Out 2. With its last three installments all having made over $900 million worldwide, expectations of the Despicable Me franchise remain sky-high.

Horror Is Providing Counter-Programming to Animation this Weekend

Slipping to number three, Pixar’s Inside Out 2 added around $6 million on its fifth Friday, taking its running domestic total past the $555 million mark. The blockbuster animated sequel is eyeing over $20 million this weekend, which will put it within touching distance of The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s $574 million lifetime domestic haul. Once it overtakes Super Mario, Inside Out 2 will become the second-biggest animated movie of all time at the domestic box office, behind only Incredibles 2, which made $608 million stateside in 2018. Globally, the film is passing the $1.3 billion milestone this weekend.

The fourth spot went to Apple’s Fly Me to the Moon, which is receiving a theatrical release via Sony. Starring Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson, the period drama had a soft $4.5 million opening day, and is looking at $10 million across the weekend, although this number is likely to increase with positive word-of-mouth fueled by an A- CinemaScore. The top five was rounded out by A Quiet Place: Day One, which is looking at around just under $4 million on its third Friday, having already passed the $100 million milestone domestically and the $200 million milestone worldwide. The horror prequel is expected to generate around $12 million this weekend, which should take its running total to over $115 million by Sunday. Stay tuned to Collider for more box office updates over the weekend.

Longlegs

710

A chilling horror thriller directed by Osgood Perkins. The film stars Maika Monroe as Lee Harker, a promising new FBI agent assigned to solve the mystery of an elusive serial killer played by Nicolas Cage. As Harker delves deeper into the case, she uncovers disturbing evidence of occult practices connected to the murders.

Release Date

July 12, 2024

Director

Oz Perkins

Cast

Maika Monroe , Nicholas Cage , Alicia Witt , Blair Underwood

Find Tickets Now