The new A24 horror movie has turned out a debut that has hit a devastating record low. A24 is an independent production company and distributor that was founded in 2012 and has been behind some of the most idiosyncratic and notable releases of the past decade. In addition to titles such as the 2019 thriller Uncut Gems and the 2023 wrestling biopic The Iron Claw, A24 has released eight Best Picture nominees including two winners, namely the 2022 sci-fi action multiverse movie Everything Everywhere All At Once and the 2016 LGBTQ+ drama Moonlight.

Although they produce projects in a variety of different genres, A24 horror movies have become a pillar of the brand. They began to cement their reputation for artistic horror releases in 2015, when they put out Robert Eggers' The Witch, Jeremy Saulnier's Green Room, and Osgood Perkins' The Blackcoat's Daughter, after which point they began putting out horror titles more regularly. At the time of writing, three of their 10 highest-grossing movies worldwide are horror titles, namely Talk To Me (No. 3, $91.9 million), Hereditary (No. 4, $80.9 million), and Heretic (No. 8, $58.1 million).

Opus Has Had One Of The Worst Opening Weekends Of All Time

It Debuted Outside The Domestic Top 10

Opus has had a dismal opening weekend. The A24 horror movie, which was written and directed by Mark Anthony Green, follows a journalist (Ayo Edebiri) who is invited to the compound of a reclusive pop star (John Malkovich), where he seems to have developed a sinister cult of followers. Opus reviews have been mixed, earning it a rough 40% Rotten Tomatoes score despite some good reviews, including the 7 out of 10 writeup from ScreenRant's own Graeme Guttmann. Read an excerpt from his piece below:

There is something to be said about how fun this film is... and, along with Green's confident direction, Opus is a glossy horror film that rises above its shortcomings. It's more of a B-movie than some might have come to expect from A24, but for my money, that's rarely a bad thing, especially when it's done as well as it is here.

Per Variety, as of Sunday morning, Opus is projected to gross just $1 million in 1,764 theaters during its opening weekend at the domestic box office. This will see it premiere at No. 12 on the chart for the weekend with one of the worst wide release debuts of all time. Among movies that debuted in 1,500 theaters or more, it is the tenth-worst of all time, coming in just above the 2021 animated release, Scoob!, which had a day-and-date release in 2021 where it was streaming simultaneously on HBO Max (now Max).

Below, see how the movie compares to the worst domestic debuts that opened in that range, per Box Office Mojo:

What This Means For Opus

Its Future Looks Bleak

It is somewhat unclear why the Opus release might be underperforming so dramatically, as the reactions to it are more middling than downright negative. Audiences on Rotten Tomatoes are about par with critics, giving it 56%, while its C+ CinemaScore isn't out of line for an average horror release. Whatever the reason for its immediate collapse, it does not seem likely to earn back its slim $10 million budget in theaters, let alone hit its break-even point, which is probably somewhere around $25 million.

What This Means For A24

A24 Has Had Inconsistent Success With Its Recent Horror Films

More concerning than Opus' own box office gross is how the movie's poor performance could impact A24's reputation. While last year's Heretic did very well at the box office and even in awards circles for the leading performance from Hugh Grant, the producer had some major horror misses last year. December 2024's Y2K received mixed reviews and struggled at the box office, making only $4.4 million worldwide, failing to make back its $15 million budget.

Y2K was not the only A24 horror release last year that struggled to connect in the way that some of its other horror films have. The Front Room made even less than Y2K, grossing just $3.1 million over the course of its run. Even if Opus is able to make more than these totals during its overall run, its record-breakingly low box office does not set the movie on a good path, and it makes it fall into the unfortunate trend of underperforming A24 horror films.

Looking at the studio's release plans for 2025, this is an especially bad path to fall down. The end of the month will see the release of Death of a Unicorn and May sees the release of Bring Her Back. In order for these movies to do well, A24 will have to shake the trend perpetuated by The Front Room, Y2K, and Opus, and restore their positive horror reputation.

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Source: Variety & Box Office Mojo