The Front Room has debuted with a record low for the horror genre in 2024. The new movie is the feature debut of writer-directors Max and Sam Eggers, who are the twin brothers of The Witch and The Lighthouse director Robert Eggers. A24’s The Front Room stars Brandy as Belinda, a pregnant anthropology professor whose sick and grieving stepmother-in-law Solange (Kathryn Hunter) moves in with her and her husband Norman (Andrew Burnap), causing a variety of increasingly sinister issues for the couple.
Per Deadline, as of Sunday morning, The Front Room is projected to debut with a 3-day total of $1.66 million from 2,095 theaters. This total places it at No. 10 on the domestic chart for the weekend, well below the competing new release Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which is on track to earn $110 million. It is also set for the worst opening weekend for a 2024 horror movie so far, which in this case is defined as any title in the genre that opened in more than 1,000 theaters.
The only exception from this calculation is the Fathom Events presentation of Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2, which did play in more than 1,400 theaters but does not have a proper 3-day opening weekend total, as it only screened for three days between Tuesday, March 26, and Thursday, March 28.
What This Opening Weekend Means For The Front Room
The Movie May Still Earn A Profit
Perhaps spurred on by the fact that The Front Room was the lowest-rated A24 movie of 2024 on Rotten Tomatoes with a score of 51%, the movie’s opening weekend is a thorough disappointment. It was even outperformed by movies that opened in significantly fewer theaters, such as In a Violent Nature and Cuckoo. Below, see a breakdown of how it compares to the previous lowest-grossing wide release horror movies of 2024, including Afraid, which recently earned one of Blumhouse’s worst debuts in nine years:
|
Title |
Theaters |
Opening Weekend |
|---|---|---|
|
The Front Room |
2095 |
$1.66 million |
|
In a Violent Nature |
1426 |
$2.1 million |
|
The Exorcism |
2240 |
$2.4 million |
|
Cuckoo |
1503 |
$3 million |
|
Afraid |
3003 |
$3.7 million |
However, while the movie’s budget has not been reported, it does not seem likely to be high. Because its core cast consists of just three actors, it is primarily set in a single home, and it is a psychological thriller without the need for extensive effects, its price tag was likely considerably lower than other A24 horror movies such as Hereditary (which cost $10 million) or Bodies Bodies Bodies (which cost $3 million). It remains to be seen if The Front Room is profitable in theaters, but its break-even point could very well be within sight even with this record.
Our Take On The Front Room’s Opening Weekend
The A24 Horror Movie Could Maintain Its Record
It remains to be seen if any upcoming wide release 2024 horror movies beat the record low of The Front Room, especially untested properties like the Halle Berry-led Don’t Let Go or the anticipated microbudget slasher sequel Terrifier 3, which is a sequel to a surprise hit, but one that didn’t open in wide release. However, it seems entirely possible that it will hold its record through the end of the year.
Source: Deadline
