Animation continues to dominate the summer box office with the success of Despicable Me 4 and Inside Out 2. However, Neon’s Longlegs deserves recognition for achieving the biggest opening for an independent horror film in a decade, earning $22.6 million in ticket sales.
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| Maika Monroe in 'Longlegs.' NEON/COURTESY EVERETT COLLECTION |
Despicable Me 4, produced by Illumination and Universal, maintained its lead at the domestic box office in its second weekend, raking in $44.7 million from 4,449 theaters. This brought its North American total to $211.1 million by Sunday.
Internationally, Gru and the Minions also performed well, generating $88 million from 78 markets, resulting in a foreign total of $226.7 million and a global tally of $437.8 million.
In a remarkable achievement, the Despicable Me/Minions franchise has surpassed the $5 billion mark in global ticket sales, setting a new record for animated franchises. This milestone comes as Illumination announced the development of Minions 3 earlier this week.
The standout surprise of the weekend was the unexpectedly strong performance of writer-director Osgood Perkins' Longlegs, a chilling serial killer thriller featuring Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage. The film, a tense FBI procedural, played in 2,510 cinemas and achieved the biggest opening ever for Tom Quinn's Oscar-winning specialty production and distribution company, Neon, known for Parasite.
This marks Nicolas Cage's largest opening since National Treasure: Book of Secrets in 2007, and it also stands as the top R-rated opening of 2024 thus far. Notably, Longlegs is the only indie horror film in the past decade to debut with $20 million or more, excluding the Insidious movies from Focus Features/Universal.
Neon highlights that few indie films have reached the $20 million threshold in their opening weekend over the past 25 years. However, it’s important to note that many indie titles, including previous Neon releases, often start in a limited number of theaters before expanding nationwide, unlike the broad release of Longlegs.
The well-reviewed Longlegs earned an impressive $10 million on Friday alone, including previews, and wasn't negatively impacted by its C+ Cinemascore, a typical rating for horror films. Notably, more than 70% of ticket buyers were between the ages of 18 and 34.
Meanwhile, the record-shattering Inside Out 2 continues its climb toward becoming the top-grossing animated film of all time, ending Sunday with a global total of $1.35 billion. It has already claimed the title of the top-grossing Pixar film ever and the third-highest grossing animated film, unadjusted for inflation. This success has contributed to Disney becoming the first major studio to cross the $2 billion mark in global ticket sales for 2024.
In North America, Inside Out 2 secured third place in its fifth weekend, earning $20.8 million for a domestic total of $572.6 million. Internationally, it added another $50.2 million from 47 markets, bringing its foreign total to $777.5 million. The film has yet to debut in Japan, where it is expected to perform well.
Paramount's A Quiet Place: Day One continues to attract audiences, landing in fourth place despite the competition from Longlegs. The prequel garnered an additional $11.8 million this weekend from 3,378 theaters, bringing its domestic total to $116.2 million as of Sunday.
Apple Original Films continues to make strides in theatrical releases with Fly Me to the Moon, directed by Greg Berlanti and starring Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum. The period space-age romantic comedy, distributed by Sony on Apple's behalf, debuted to a modest $10 million from 3,356 theaters, securing the No. 5 spot at the box office.
This opening aligns with expectations, given the film's appeal to an older demographic; over half of the ticket buyers were aged 45 or older, including 32% over 55. Despite receiving lukewarm reviews, Fly Me to the Moon earned an A- CinemaScore from audiences, suggesting a more favorable reception from viewers compared to critics. Reviews tend to hold more weight with older audiences, on whom Berlanti's film heavily relies.
Apple and Sony are optimistic that the film will have a steady run, drawing comparisons to similar titles like Ticket to Paradise, which started with $16.5 million domestically and reached $68 million, and Where the Crawdads Sing, which opened at $17.7 million and concluded at $90 million domestically.
At the specialty box office, A24's Sing Sing, directed by Greg Kwedar, is making waves with a strong per-theater average of approximately $34,280 from four theaters in Los Angeles and New York. The film delves into an arts program at the notorious Sing Sing prison, attracting solid interest and showcasing A24's continued success in niche markets.
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