The box office success of horror movies like ‘It’ and ‘Get Out’ signal a comeback for a genre once left for dead.
This year, moviegoers appear to have a bigger appetite for gory, R-rated fare than they’ve had in years. That’s potentially encouraging news for « Jigsaw, » the seventh installment in the « Saw » horror franchise which opened this weekend.
According to early estimates, « Jigsaw » is expected to take in approximately $20 million in its opening weekend. If the blockbuster reception of « It » and the surprise success of « Get Out » are anything to go by, the film could exceed these modest expectations.
For much of the past decade, most of the successful horror films have carried PG-13 ratings. The « Twilight » saga led the pack, with the 2010 installment « Eclipse » earning $300 million at the domestic box office. While admittedly not a horror film in the traditional sense, the series — and others with the same rating — spared the gore and courted a wider, younger audience.
In 2017, however, PG-13 horror fare landed with a thud. Tom Cruise’s vehicle, « The Mummy, » was the first installment in Universal Pictures’ « Dark Universe » franchise of rebooted classic monster movies, but under-performed with a domestic haul of only $80 million. The planned next installment in the franchise, a remake of « The Bride of Frankenstein » was postponed not long afterwards. [Disclosure: Universal Pictures is owned by Comcast, the parent company of CNBC].
Enter « It, » the movie based on the Stephen King novel that’s already the fifth highest grossing movie of 2017, with a domestic box office take of $321 million. « Get Out » is the 11th highest grossing movie of the year, with a $175 million domestic take that was more than double what « The Mummy » took in.
There are many reasons why horror with a harder edge are getting a second look from filmgoers. Jackie Jorgenson, an actor and filmmaker, suggested that PG-13 thrillers that were so consistently popular for the past few years may have peaked.
« Audiences tired of the nanny-cam horrors a year or two after the success of ‘Paranormal Activity,' » she said. « They are ready for something new, even if that means reinventing an old favorite genre. »
In a news cycle that’s seen no shortage of bad news, it seems counterintuitive that audiences would flock to scary fare. Experts say there’s a good reason behind the move.
« While it seems like going to a scary movie would be the exact opposite of what someone would want to do in times like this, there is also a cathartic release of fear that can be accomplished in a movie theater that is not possible in real life, » said Andrew Selepak, a professor in the department of telecommunication at the University of Florida.
« Scary movies provide a more acceptable form of release to the terror that we otherwise fear from the real world, » he added.
« Given the glut of current real-world horrors, people are responding more to gory, horrific films as a means of escapism, » said Amie Simon, creative marketing director at Smarthouse Creative, a Los Angeles-based digital marketing and media firm.
« It’s a blood-soaked environment they can leave behind at the theater, that will hopefully allow them to stop thinking about reality, at least for a short period of time, » Simon added.
However, rather than providing escapist scares that are left behind when the credits roll, other experts said well-received movies like « Get Out » are successful because of a core theme that resonates with moviegoers.
« ‘Get Out’… is not so much a horror film as a must-see portrait of racism, American style, » said Rob Edelman, a lecturer at the University of Albany’s College of Arts and Sciences. « It is one of the best films I’ve seen this year, and this goes way beyond its horror content. »
Stephen Kent, an entertainment contributor to the Washington Examiner, said that « Get Out » succeeded precisely because it was political.
« ‘Get Out’ was heralded as a commentary on the unspoken racism that continues to exist in communities all around America, and that word of mouth propelled it to a $253 million [worldwide] haul, » Kent added.
Evidence of moviegoers’ changing tastes isn’t just at the multiplex. Ryan O’Connor, a marketing coordinator at Costume Supercenter, said the trend is also evident in Halloween costumes. « We’ve noticed a big spike in sales of characters from R-rated and gorier films this year, » O’Connor told CNBC.
Pennywise — the terrifying clown that haunts the protagonists of « It »— has emerged as one of the season’s most popular costumes, according to a recent survey by Fandango.
Along with 2016’s « Deadpool » (an R-rated superhero sleeper hit), Pennywise garb « has been one of our most popular costume themes. We’re already sold out for the season, » O’Connor added.
