Universal and Blumhouse’s latest low-budget horror film rides glowing reviews to $27 million opening
The first box office weekend of 2023 has brought the first hit of 2023 as Universal/Blumhouse’s campy killer doll horror film “M3GAN” is riding strong critics’ reviews to a $27 million opening while Disney/20th Century’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” stays No. 1 and crosses the $500 million mark in North America.
Made on a $12 million budget before marketing costs, “M3GAN” was projected for an opening weekend of $17-22 million from 3,509 locations and is now beating those expectations after critics praised the film for its self-aware dark humor, giving it a 94% Rotten Tomatoes score. Audience metrics haven’t been quite as strong with a B on CinemaScore and a 79% audience RT rating, though it is rare for any horror film to have exceptionally high metrics.
As the only horror film in theaters, “M3GAN” now has a chance to leg out with younger audiences after becoming the first movie released on the first weekend of the year to open to over $20 million since “Insidious: The Last Key” in 2018.
