Summary
Longlegshas passed a major global milestone. The new horror-thriller movie, which was directed by Osgood Perkins, follows a young FBI agent named Lee Harker (Maika Monroe ofThe GuestandIt Follows) who is hot on the trail of the titular serial killer (Nicolas Cage), whose motives are opaque and whose methods are potentially supernatural. TheLonglegsreleasehas already broken a domestic box office record with its $22.4 million opening weekend, which became the highest-grossing debut ever for its distributor, NEON.
PerCollider,Longlegshas passed the $25 million milestone at the domestic box office on Wednesday, following that up bypassing the $30 million milestone globally. It has become the 42nd release of 2024 to pass that particular milestone, but it is among the lowest-budgeted releases to do so, as the list also includes mega-hits such asGodzilla x Kong: The New Empire,Inside Out 2, andDune: Part Two. The movie cost less than $10 million, meaning that it has likely passed its break-even point, which was probably around $20 million without factoring in marketing costs.
How Longlegs Compares To Other 2024 Horror Hits
It’s Not The Only Record-Breaking Horror Release Of The Year
At the time of writing,Longlegsis the 10th highest-grossing horror release of the year overall.
The year 2024 has been filled with movies in the horror genre that have performed well, either commercially or critically. However, theLonglegsbox officeis nevertheless a standout. Already,it has far surpassed the similar horror titleLate Night with the Devil, which also earned the best opening ever for its own distributor, IFC. The David Dastmalchian-led found footage period piece legged out to $12.45 million, meaning that the Cage project has already nearly tripled its lifetime gross.
Late Night with the Devilwas a huge success, but it was also mired in controversy after it was revealed that certain imagery seen throughout the project was created using artificial intelligence, which may have impacted its overall gross.
At the time of writing,Longlegsisthe 10th highest-grossing horror release of the year overall. However, its budget puts it in even more rarefied air. While they all grossed more than the Cage movie, the 2024 horror titlesThe First Omen,Abigail, andThe Watchersare all considered theatrical disappointments or outright flops because of their heftier budgets. Below, see how the budget and total box office gross of the new movie compares to the nine horror titles above it on the chart:
#8
$67 million
$223.6 million
#19
unknown
$98 million
#26
$15 million
$54.1 million
#27
$30 million
$53.9 million
#29
$8 million
$49 million
#31
$8.5 million
$43 million
#32
$28 million
$42.4 million
#33
~$13 million
$39.1 million
#36
$33 million
#42
~$10 million
The new movie is so far not yet the most profitable title on the list. That honor would likely belong toTarotorThe Strangers, but those are the only other releases whose box office performance has outpaced their low budgets at a similar level. As it is still running in theaters, the Cage movie’s total could continue to be propelled by the buzz surrounding a legion of positiveLonglegsreviewsthat have earned it a Certified Fresh score of 86% on Rotten Tomatoes,potentially pushing its profitability even higher than those titles by the end of its run.
Will 2024 Horror Produce Any More Hits At The Level Of Longlegs?
Franchise Movies & Indie Horror Abound In The Second Half Of The Year
As far as buzzy lower-budget movies that have the chance of connecting with audiences at the same level asLonglegs, movies like the upcoming Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens body horror thrillerCuckoo, which is also being put out by NEON,seem more likely to hit big.
AsLonglegscontinues to climb up the chart, it remains to be seen if any upcoming movies can fill its shoes throughout the remainder of 2024. There are certainly a few upcoming installments in major horror franchises that seem destined to join the roster of the highest-grossing genre offerings of the year, alongside theNicolas Cage horror movie. This includesSmile 2,Alien: Romulus, and, in genre-adjacent offerings,Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,andThe Crowadaptation starring Bill Skarsgård.
Smile 2is the hotly anticipated sequel toSmile, which became the No. 1 horror movie of 2022 after earning $217.4 million.
While all of those blockbuster titles have the chance of taking in huge box office receipts, the majority have large budgets that limit their overall profitability. As far as buzzy lower-budget movies that have the chance of connecting with audiences at the same level asLonglegs, movies like the upcoming Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens body horror thrillerCuckoo, which is also being put out by NEON,seem more likely to hit big. Another movie that could strike gold at a similar budget tier includesRevengedirector Coralie Fargeat’sThe Substance, which stars Demi Moore and cost roughly $16 million.
Ultimately, the one movie that seems most likely to blow outLonglegsin terms of return on investment isTerrifier 3. The Christmas-set slasher sequel featuring the return of iconic modern killer Art the Clown is a follow-up toTerrifier 2, which grossed $15.6 million against a microbudget of $250,000. While the follow-up’s budget has been increased, it still only comes with a price tag of $2 million, meaning that even if it has diminishing returns, itcould still easily triple, quadruple, or quintuple its budget and beyond.
Longlegs
Cast
Longlegs is a horror thriller film by writer-director Osgood Perkins. When FBI agent Lee Harker is assigned to a serial killer cold case, their investigation leads them down a rabbit hole riddled with disturbing discoveries and the occult at the center of it all. When the trail of evidence reveals a personal connection, it becomes a race against time to prevent another murder.
