Paramount is now the highest grossing horror movie of 2022
Paramount was to suffer a relatively quiet fall after having dominated the first half of 2022. “Top Gun: Maverick” and a slew of other hit films, but Parker Finn’s original horror film “Smile”It crossed yet another milestone that has been a great success for the studio. $200 million at the global movie box officeThis weekend, it was the highest-grossing horror film.
This year, the bar for this honor was lower than usual. Paramount was also last year’s top horror grosser. “A Quiet Place — Part II,”This movie grossed $296 millions worldwide. These are some of the pre-pandemic horror hits “It”($701 million in 2017), and the first “Quiet Place”($334 Million in 2018) saw more ticket sales.
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That was something that no one could have anticipated. “Smile”This would have been better than any of the other horror movies that came out this year, including franchises like autumn rival. “Halloween Ends” ($63 million domestic/$102 million worldwide), which has struggled theatrically compared to past installments thanks to poor word-of-mouth and a simultaneous streaming release, and Paramount’s own revival of “Scream” ($81 million domestic/$136 million worldwide), which did better during an early-year slump for the box office but didn’t get the word-of-mouth that “Smile” had.
“Smile” has even outperformed two hit summer horror films from Universal, Scott Derrickson’s “The Black Phone” ($89 milliion domestic/$161 million worldwide) and Jordan Peele’s “Nope”($123 million domestic/$171million worldwide). While “Nope”Most likely, will finish with a higher national total than “Smile” thanks to Peele’s clout amongst American audiences, “Smile”He has built an impressive overseas total for a film that was directed by a debut director with a reported budget only $17million.
“We shouldn’t be surprised at this overperformance considering how well horror has been performing both on the original and franchise sides,”Paul Dergarabedian, a Comscore analyst, said that. “But this is an example of how unlike other genres, horror films don’t really have to worry about cannibalizing one another if the word-of-mouth is strong. Despite films like ‘Barbarian’ and ‘Halloween Ends’ also being in theaters, ‘Smile’ was so popular that it has just kept playing and playing through its sixth weekend.”
As we noted when it was released in September, Paramount did an excellent job setting the film up for success with a creative marketing campaign led by viral videos of actors sporting the film’s sinister, demon-possessed smile at Major League Baseball games. A premiere at Alamo Drafthouse’s Fantastic FestIt was also crucial to raise awareness among horror fans who would continue to praise it after its release.
“Smile”The poor reception also helped them. “Halloween Ends,”The other major horror movie from Studio A was released in theaters last month. “Ends”Peacock was also available daily on Peacock, further diminishing the moviegoer’s respect for it in theaters. This enabled “Smile”This film is more popular than any other option for moviegoers seeking a horror movie around Halloween. It’s available not only in the U.S., but worldwide.
Take all of these factors and you will have Paramount’s sixth hit film this year. “Scream,” “Jackass Forever,” “The Lost City,” “Sonic the Hedgehog 2,”Of course, “Top Gun: Maverick.” The studio will now turn to its potential Oscar contender, Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon,”A film that hopes to make a profit on its $78 million budget. It draws audiences with a wild portrayal of 1920s Hollywood. This sets it apart from holiday offerings such as “Avatar: The Way of Water”And “Puss In Boots: The Last Wish.”
