Neon’s “Longlegs” has officially crossed the $100 million mark at the global box office. Director Osgood Perkins’ acclaimed, R-rated serial killer flick has been chugging along in theaters even against strong competition from the likes of “Deadpool & Wolverine,” “Twisters,” and “Inside Out 2,” among others, over the past month. Now, the film has (long)legged its way into the record books, becoming the highest-grossing indie horror movie in a decade.
According to a press release, “Longlegs” has cleared $72 million in North America, with the rest of its ever-growing total coming from overseas markets. The film now ranks as the highest-grossing R-rated horror movie of the year, as well as Neon’s highest-grossing movie ever, overtaking the Best Picture-winner “Parasite.” It all started with a shocking $22 million opening weekend in mid-July, which set the film up for one of the most impressive runs we’ve seen at the box office in 2024 thus far. Given the modest $10 million production budget and thrifty marketing spend, this one will turn a very healthy profit for all involved.
By my calculations, “Longlegs” is now the biggest indie horror hit since James Wan’s “Insidious” ($99.5 million worldwide) in 2011. That speaks volumes, given that Wan is a very audience-friendly filmmaker as the man behind the “Saw” and “Conjuring” franchises as well. Perkins, on the other hand, is a challenging director who made an uncompromising, exceedingly dark movie about a deranged serial killer that somehow managed to cut through the noise and become the biggest horror hit of 2024 to date. To say that it’s impressive would be an understatement.
Longlegs is a most unlikely $100 million success story
Neon is owed a great deal of credit for launching an all-timer of a marketing campaign for “Longlegs.” They opted to hide Nicolas Cage as the titular killer, forcing curious audiences to head to a theater if they wanted to see the Oscar-winner’s wild transformation. They managed to hinge the campaign on dark, ominous intrigue, with “It Follows” star Maika Monroe front and center. The “less is more” approach got people hooked and, even though response among general moviegoers was a bit mixed, the film garnered must-see buzz, leading to incredible holds week-to-week.
The first half of 2024 was brutal, with quite a few movies under-delivering, which left theaters desperate for hits. Those hits have come steadily in the second half of the year, with “Deadpool & Wolverine” recently becoming the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, not to mention the resounding success of “Inside Out 2,” which now ranks as one of the biggest movies in history. It’s one thing for a big franchise blockbuster to sell a lot of tickets. It’s another thing entirely for an indie movie such as this to become an unqualified monster hit. It’s an unlikely success story but a welcome one at that.
Neon is looking rather smart right now, as they’ve already re-teamed with Perkins for an adaptation of Stephen King’s “The Monkey.” What’s more, that movie is already finished and is due to hit theaters in February, meaning they should be able to further capitalize on the momentum they’ve built up. As for what Perkins will do after that? Whatever it is, he’ll surely have no shortage of options.
“Longlegs” is in theaters now.
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