The new horror comedy from A24, Death of a Unicorn, has been underperforming at the box office, in another troubling sign for the horror movie market. Death of a Unicorn stars Paul Rudd opposite Jenna Ortega as a father and daughter who accidentally kill a unicorn on a road trip and contend with the unicorn’s vengeful parents. Although Death of a Unicorn received mixed reviews from critics, it seemed to have all the makings of a hit: bankable stars, intriguing trailers, and a high-concept creature-feature premise.
But unfortunately, in spite of those elements, Death of a Unicorn has not performed well upon release. Although it’s scored blockbuster horror hits in the past with Midsommar, Talk to Me, and most recently Heretic, A24 is currently going through a rough patch with its scary movie output. Just a couple of weeks after their thriller Opus struggled, Death of a Unicorn grossed $5.8 million on its opening weekend, coming in well below Blumhouse’s The Woman in the Yard, which rang up opening weekend receipts of $9.4 million.
The Once-H๏τ Market For Horror Movies Appears To Have Cooled
…But New Movies In 2025 Could Quickly Reverse That
Despite having the winning combination of Rudd and Ortega in lead roles, Death of a Unicorn was always going to be a bit of a gamble. Its humor is so quirky and tongue-in-cheek that it would either connect with audiences or it wouldn’t, and it seems like it didn’t. Horror films can often find a second life in streaming release or attain cult status, however, so we shouldn’t count this one out yet.
Death of a Unicorn’s performance reflects a wider trend of horror movies missing the box office mark that began in 2024. Long considered a safe studio investment due to relatively low budgets and the potential for word-of-mouth hits, there have been signs of “genre fatigue” after several films fell below expectations. In 2024, The Omen, Imaginary, and Abigail were among the properties that struggled.
While recent returns suggest audience appeтιтe may be slowing for frighteners, this trend could also be quickly reversed. As shown on its opening weekend, The Woman In The Yard overperformed expectation-wise, after initial projections had it aimed at more of a $5 million haul. And several highly-anticipated тιтles of the thriller and horror variety are slated for release in 2025 and have the potential to reignite audience excitement, including Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, The Black Phone 2, M3GAN 2.0, 28 Years Later, and a fresh installment in the I Know What You Did Last Summer franchise.
Both Rudd and Ortega have new movies with A24 on the horizon. Hurry Up Tomorrow has a strong cast, featuring Ortega, Barry Keoghan, and The Weeknd playing himself. Like Death of a Unicorn, it’s a quirky horror film that doesn’t easily fall into a familiar category, and instead offers an intriguing premise: a musical psychological thriller about an insomniac musician on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Rudd will star alongside Tim Robinson and Kate Mara in writer/director Andrew DeYoung’s dark comedy Friendship, in which a suburban father becomes uncomfortably entangled with his neighbor. Friendship bows on May 23rd, 2025 and Hurry Up Tomorrow hits theaters January 31st, 2025.
