Heart Eyes has entered the slasher pantheon with a week 2 drop that comes close to smashing an all-time record. The movie, which was directed by Josh Ruben from a screenplay by Christopher Landon, Michael Kennedy, and Phillip Murphy, follows a pair of coworkers (Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding) who are being hunted by a killer who stalks couples on Valentine’s Day. The Heart Eyes release kicked off on February 7, opening at No. 2 behind the sophomore weekend of Dog Man but above fellow holiday-themed new release Love Hurts.

Per ᴅᴇᴀᴅline, as of Saturday morning, Heart Eyes is projected to earn a 3-day total of $9.8 million by the end of its sophomore weekend at the domestic box office. Although the horror genre typically experiences harsh week 2 drops of 50% or more, this total will instead see it rising 18% from its opening weekend gross of $8.3 million.

As revealed by Box Office Mojo‘s chart, this would give it the third-smallest week 2 drop of all time for any slasher movie that opened in 600 theaters or more, falling behind only 2022’s surprise hit Terrifier 2 (+28%) and the 1996 franchise-kickstarting zeitgeist smash Scream (+42.8%). There are no other slasher movies among the 200 тιтles on the chart of the smallest week 2 drops, which bottoms out with the 1994 animated movie The Swan Princess (-7%).

What This Means For Heart Eyes

It Breaks Longstanding Slasher Tradition

There are likely quite a few reasons that the 2025 slasher movie has seen such an unparalleled resurgence at the box office. The major reason is likely the fact that its holiday setting makes it perfect Valentine’s Day viewing, and the romantic holiday on which it takes place fell on the Friday of its sophomore weekend. Heart Eyes reviews have also been generally superb, earning it a Certified Fresh score of 80% on Rotten Tomatoes with a nearly matching audience score of 79%.

However, this is still a remarkable feat considering the typical fate of slasher movies. Even some of the highest-grossing slasher movies of all time have collapsed in their second weekends, following the typical horror movie release pattern. This includes 2018’s Halloween (which fell 58.8% after a $76.2 million debut), 1997’s Scream 2 (-57.7% after a $32.9 million debut), 2003’s Freddy vs. Jason (-63.2% after a $36.4 million debut), and 2009’s Friday the 13th (-80.4% after a $40.6 million debut, the 25th biggest week 2 drop of all time).

Our Take On The Heart Eyes Box Office

Week 2 Could Indicate A Bright Future

The 2025 slasher movie still has a way to climb before it earns a profit. Its reported $18 million budget could mean that it needs to earn $45 million in order to break even, a milestone which its cumulative $22.5 million domestic total has not yet reached. However, its near-unparalleled growth, even during the weekend that the new Captain America movie premiered, showed that it could very well have long legs at the box office that may eventually guarantee that a sequel will soon follow, continuing the story after the seemingly conclusive Heart Eyes ending.

Enjoy Screen Rant’s box office coverage? Click below to sign up for my weekly box office newsletter (make sure to check “Box Office” in your preferences) and get exclusive analysis, predictions, and more:

Sign Up

Source: ᴅᴇᴀᴅline & Box Office Mojo