A24 has produced some modern classics in the horror realm, and many of them have done incredibly well at the box office. Of the independent distributor’s top 5 highest-grossing movies of all time, two of them are horror films, including Hereditary and Talk to Me. The studio helped make a budding horror auteur out of Ari Aster, whose second film, Midsommar, also remains an iconic part of both Aster and A24’s oeuvre. Last year’s Heretic was another winner, making over $58 million worldwide and bringing in positive reviews.
That being said, A24’s horror movies have been on a rough streak in the past few months. For every Heretic success story, there seems to be more examples of films like The Front Room and Y2K, which fail to connect both critically and at the box office. Earlier this month, A24 had another flop with Opus. The Ayo Edebiri-led horror comedy has made just $2.1 million worldwide at the time of writing, coming nowhere near its estimated $10 million budget. Opus also got mixed reviews, managing only a 41% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes. Now, A24’s latest horror attempt is also struggling.
Death Of A Unicorn Did Not Have A Great Box Office Debut
It Lost Out To Blumhouse
A24’s Death of a Unicorn struggled to beat out a Blumhouse horror movie in its opening weekend. The farcical horror film tells the story of a young woman named Ridley and her father, Elliot, who accidentally and unexpectedly hit a mystical (but bloodthirsty) unicorn with their car while on their way to a big pharma CEO’s wilderness retreat. While Ridley and Elliot attempt to cover their tracks, chaos ensues, making for a humorous and horrific ride. Death of a Unicorn‘s cast is packed with stars, including Jenna Ortega, Paul Rudd, David Pasquesi, Richard E. Grant, and Will Poulter.
As per Box Office Mojo, Death of a Unicorn has struggled during its first weekend in theaters. The film made just $5.7 million at the box office this weekend. While it did sneak into the box office top five, this total meant that the A24 horror film lost out to Blumhouse’s The Woman in the Yard, which managed a $9.4 million debut.
What This Means For A24
They Need To Restore Their Horror Reputation
Death of a Unicorn‘s opening weekend is not a great sign for A24, as the producer continues on a rough streak for horror. The group has another horror film on the release calendar in the coming months, putting out Talk to Me directors Danny and Michael Philippou’s Bring Her Back at the end of May. Hopefully, this film can connect with audiences more than either Death of a Unicorn or Opus, or else A24‘s horror reputation is in a seriously precarious spot.
Source: Box Office Mojo
