Jordan Peele’s Us scared up a new box office record in its first weekend in theaters as the film set the best-ever opening for an original horror movie.
With a $70 million domestic opening weekend – nearly double its early estimates of $38 million – Us surpassed A Quiet Place for the best opening for an original horror film, and posted the best opening for an original R-rated film since Ted in 2012, Variety reported.
Us also more than doubled the opening weekend haul of Peele’s 2017 hit Get Out, which debuted domestically with $33 million on its way to a $176 million domestic gross; Get Out‘s production budget was $4.5 million, while Us reportedly had a $20 million budget.
“Put simply, Jordan Peele is a genius,” Jim Orr, Universal’s president of domestic distribution, said in a statement to Variety. “He’s managed to tap into something that the domestic box office can’t get enough of. People can’t wait to see what he does next.”
Tim Heidecker noted of Us‘ huge weekend:
I’m worried “being political on twitter” will hurt my career. https://t.co/yOjOVQ24YO — Tim Heidecker (@timheidecker) March 24, 2019
Us also ended Captain Marvel‘s two-week reign atop the box office. Us‘ $70 million was the second-best opening of 2019, behind Captain Marvel‘s $153 million debut.
2017’s It, an adaptation of the Stephen King novel, established the all-time highest opening box office for a horror film with $123 million. Deadpool 2, a Marvel property, holds the record for best rated-R opening with $132 million.
(Source: Rolling Stone)