Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty
Since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, Hollywood has struggled to adjust to our harrowing new reality. Delayed releases, shelved projects, shifting business models, massive company layoffs, and a slew of industry-wide scandals have left the entertainment world in a creative and economic limbo. However, one arguably good thing to come out of Tinseltown during this still ongoing health crisis is the influx of critically and commercially successful horror films.
2022 alone has seen the emergence of some extremely profitable original horror storytelling. Zach Cregger’s twisted domestic thriller Barbarian became a sleeper hit through strong word-of-mouth, earning $42 million worldwide on a $4 million budget. Scott Derrickson’s child abduction/paranormal mashup The Black Phone made a whopping $161 million at the global box office with a $16 million budget. Halina Reijn’s Gen-Z slasher Bodies Bodies Bodies raked in a healthy $13.6 million during a barren August weekend.
Jordan Peele’s cowboys-vs-aliens horror pic Nope received the best original film opening since his 2019 film Us. Parker Finn’s jumpscare-heavy Smile grossed $167 million on a $17 million budget, with the help of an effective marketing campaign, beating out Billy Eichner and Nicholas Stoller’s hotly anticipated rom-com Bros for the #1 spot. Even Terrifier 2, the sequel to Damien Leone’s 2016 splatter slasher, managed to churn out $5.4 million against a Kickstarter-backed $250,000 budget.