The horror filmBarbariantopped the box office this weekend, grossing $10 million in a late summer/early fall weekend that is typically slow for Hollywood debuts.
Barbarian, directed by Zach Creggar, features Georgina Campbell as Tess Marshall, a woman who rents an Airbnb in a rundown neighbourhood in Detroit only to find it occupied by another renter, Keith (Bill Skarsgard). The two decide to share the rental only to discover a disturbing system of caves, secret passages, and terrifying secrets beneath the home that escalate with horrifying consequences. The filmfeatures Justin Longas A.J., the failing sitcom actor who owns the rental property. He visits to look into selling the property after a sexual assault allegation only to discover his renters trapped in a nightmare deep underground.
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According toAssociated Press News,Barbarian, which had previously debuted at the San Diego Comic-Con in July, came out in the lead with an overall gross of nearly one-fourth of all ticket sales for the weekend.Barbarianhas been praised for its fast-paced storytelling, multiple points of view, and its keen commentary on urban gentrification. On a weekend in a month that is typically low performing for Hollywood debuts, the rise of a horror film is unusual, though not unheard of. It follows on the heels ofrecent vampire horrorThe Invitation, which only grossed $7 million on its debut weekend in early September but still managed to outpace other releases.
According to Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data firm Comscore, “Horror movies are always an accountant’s dream, and this is why.” With low costs to make and small budgets at the outset,many horror movies, whatever their spot on box office charts, are successful in making back their original production costs and only continue to bring in more money when they move to streaming services. Potential new audiences, who may have missed them in the theaters, then spread their popularity by word of mouth.
For a horror film with a relatively low budget of only $10.5 million, the weekend was a phenomenal success forBarbarianthat will no doubt continue as interest grows.Barbarian’s $10 million success granted it nearly twice the gross of the second place film of the weekend,Brahmastra: Part One: Shiva, an Indian, Hindi-language fantasy epic from Disney subsidiary, Star Studios. WhileBarbarianmay benefit from the growing autumnal interest in scares around Halloween, it will also be facing more competition as other, high profile horrors are set torelease in the coming month likeHalloween Endsand A24sPearl, a much-anticipated prequel toX.
