The first half of 2024 was not nearly as kind to horror as 2022 and 2023 were. Several originals failed to live up to expectations, with indies such as “Immaculate” and “Late Night with the Devil” doing well against muted expectations. Similarly, A24’s “MaXXXine” sent the “X” trilogy off on a high note recently with a $6.7 million opening, but even that was only a relative success. $22.6 million for an R-rated original — particularly an indie like “Longlegs” — is an unqualified, massive success. It’s hard not to think that the lack of original mainstream breakouts this year contributed to demand for something worth seeing.

So many of the other big horror movies that hit theaters this year were met with mixed-to-bad reviews. They couldn’t catch on with mainstream audiences. “Longlegs” had the reviews, the marketing, and the hook of being original. After a bunch of sequels, spin-offs, and franchise fare, that probably felt a little special to certain moviegoers. That’s why the movie averaged around $9,000 per screen playing on just over 2,500 screens, compared to more than 4,400 screens “Despicable Me 4” is currently playing on. Demand was downright feverish.

“Longlegs” had a better opening weekend than any A24 horror movie in history, far eclipsing the debuts of the likes of “Talk to Me” and “Hereditary.” It is the biggest opening for any R-rated horror movie since “The Nun 2” in September 2023. It’s a big damn deal, and it proved to be the exact right movie at the exact right time.

“Longlegs” is in theaters now, and we spoke about its remarkable box office performance on today’s episode of the /Film Daily podcast:

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