Early Box Office Estimates: Horror Continues to Struggle

[Matt_Molgaard]

At this point, it should come as no surprise that horror endured another painfully unfruitful weekend at the box office. A statistic nightmare in terms of cinematic draw, August winds down as hopeful remakes like Fright Night and Conan the Barbarian plunge deeper into the realms of debt. Both flicks continued to flounder this weekend, falling to the ninth and eighth places, respectively. While Fright Night was shot on a fairly low $30 million budget, Lionsgate stands to lose far more significant marks, as Conan the Barbarian cost roughly $90 million to assemble.

Debuting in wide release this weekend was the critically acclaimed Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark. Some fantastic reviews seemed to have sparked significant early interest in the picture, but that interest certainly didn’t translate at the box office; the feature sold just over $8 million in tickets for a third place debut.

Those aren’t terrible numbers, especially for this specific time of year, but it’s an underwhelming debut all the same. The meager turnout signals conclusive punctuation to a disappointing summer for the horror genre.

Check out the box office top 10 estimates below!

1. The Help: $14,333,000
2. Colombiana: $10,300,000
3. Don't Be Afraid of the Dark: $8,689,000
4. Rise of the Planet of the Apes: $8,650,000
5. Our Idiot Brother: $6,588,000
6. Spy Kids: All the Time in the World: $5,727,000
7. The Smurfs: $4,800,000
8. Conan the Barbarian (2011): $3,100,000
9. Fright Night (2011): $3,029,000
10. Crazy, Stupid, Love.: $2,905,000

[TheShape1188]

WORST MOVIE EVER CREATED :slasher: :slasher: :slasher: :slasher: :slasher:

[nightmareblade]

There are 5 reason why this is happen

1# TOO MANY REMAKES

2# TOO HIGH FOR MOVIE TICKETS

#3 PEOPLE ARE SICK AND TIRED OF 3D MOVIE AND THERE COST

#4 PEOPLE DON'T HAVE THE MONEY TO SPEND BECAUSE OF HIGH PRICE

#5 NOTHING ORIGINAL HAS REALLY COME OUT FOR HORROR MOVIE IN QUIT AWHILE

[Jonny Sicko]

There are 5 reason why this is happen

1# TOO MANY REMAKES

2# TOO HIGH FOR MOVIE TICKETS

#3 PEOPLE ARE SICK AND TIRED OF 3D MOVIE AND THERE COST

#4 PEOPLE DON'T HAVE THE MONEY TO SPEND BECAUSE OF HIGH PRICE

#5 NOTHING ORIGINAL HAS REALLY COME OUT FOR HORROR MOVIE IN QUIT AWHILE

I completely agree. First off - Remakes *in most cases* do not need to be made. Especially the classics. It's like these movie directors want to completely destroy nostalgia.

And yes, 3D is a silly gimmick that hack directors use in place of actual story/good acting. 3D gives me serious headaches after 10 minutes... WTF. Oh and let's CGI the entire film yay! What happened to the good 'ol days of atmosphere, fog machines, and puppets/people in monster suits?! I liked those!

Ticket prices, absolutely. $12 a ticket where I live. And the MPAA wonders why people torrent movies? I remember when movies were $3.50 a ticket, popcorn and a drink was like a $4.00 deal...

Definitely agree with the lack of originality. But I guess that goes hand in hand with remakes. A director can take a shit in a box, cover it with glitter and painted macaroni, and try to hype it up and sell it. 5 years later, SAME BOX, sell it again as a "special edition"... I mean as a sci-fi fan, George Lucus has been doing that to us for years! How many times are you going to sell us the same movies over and over again George?!?! How many new editions? Ohhh Here's a new edition where Luke takes a shit and wipes his ass with a Jawa's cloak. Lets sell it! Oh OH! Han Solo rubs one out in the Cantina and fires (his load) first! LETS SELL IT!

I guess in the end it's all about the dollars. And that's why I haven't been to a movie theater since 2002. Thank you, Internet! Thank you!