Why Horror Is Anything but Insidious for Film Studios

The fifth Indiana Jones movie may have stayed atop the box office in its second weekend, but it did so narrowly on account of another franchises fifth entry.

Insidious: The Red Door nabbed more than $30 million domestically over the weekend, just under the haul of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

Having earned around another $30 million internationally, this Insidious revival has already turned a profit against its $16 million budget. Should it keep its momentum going as an alternative to mainstream tentpoles like Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning and Barbie in July, The Red Door may easily become one of the most successful horror entries in recent years, a genre in which Sony has yet to reap as many rewards as of late, compared with its major-studio peers.

While Sonys vampiric The Invitation didnt pass more than $30 million domestically in 2022, it still did well enough to justify its modest $10 million budget. Morbius was a different story, as the Jared Leto-led vampire superhero flick from Marvel was a critical and commercial failure that cost $75 million to produce. Russell Crowe starrer The Popes Exorcist only brought in $20 million domestically earlier this year, making Eli Roths Thanksgiving the only horror option from Sony in 2023 that can follow up on the early success of Insidious.

Blumhouse, which produces Insidious, remains the model approach to horror filmmaking at the studios, as its mostly low-budget projects often do incredibly well. Universal continues to rely on Jason Blums outfit for its selection of horror films, of which it releases more than any other studio. Januarys M3GAN, produced in partnership with James Wans Atomic Monster, was an instant success and has a sequel due in 2025, while Octobers Exorcist revival and video game adaptation Five Nights at Freddys also hail from the prodco.

As for Paramount, its having by far the biggest heyday with its horror output. A Quiet Place Part II, released when theaters were still in the process of reopening, remains the best horror film since the pandemic started, with Smile and Scream VI additional successes that each surpassed $100 million domestically. The latter was the best film yet domestically in the history of Scream, even without Neve Campbell, and still cost under $40 million to produce, making it another profitable success.

The horror models penchant for profitability cant be ignored, as studios continue to overspend on major franchises that arent as successful at the box office as they used to be. While Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 still drew a substantial audience for Disney, Indiana Jones hasnt yet made enough to cover its near-$300 million budget alone, and its third Ant-Man also underperformed.

Yet over at its 20th Century label, Junes The Boogeyman, adapted from Stephen Kings short story, did even better at the box office than Barbarian, 2022s surprise summer success story, though the latter was more profitable due to its budget coming in under $5 million.

Warner Bros., which is in even more dire straits with its superhero output after Shazam! Fury of the Gods and The Flash crashed and burned this year, hasnt lost sight of horror as a valuable asset. The studios New Line Cinema bought and fast-tracked the follow-up from its Barbarian director earlier this year, and its Evil Dead Rise film is one profitable exception to the track record of the tentpoles from its 2023 slate released so far.

While Barbie is shaping up to be a bright spot in the clouds, Warner Bros. should see at least moderate success for its sequel to The Nun in September, another entry in its popular Conjuring horror universe, after its globally successful shark film The Meg sees a sequel in August.