EXCLUSIVE: Everyone in distribution loves a surprise, and spurring a lot of chatter throughout today is the $2.5M-$3M previews for NEON‘s serial killer horror movie Longlegs. This is per box office sources tonight.
For the specialty distributor with a penchant Palme d’Or winning movies, that’s the best take ever in Thursday night previews for their movies, outstripping the sub $1M Thursday which yielded their highest opening title ever at the domestic B.O., the Syndey Sweeney genre pic Immaculate ($5.3M) last spring.
If Longlegs stays firm, it could bode for a $10M-$15M opening; some even buzzing it could best Apple Original Film/Sony’s Scarlett Johansson-Channing Tatum rom-com, Fly Me to the Moon, which was projected to do $12M. That movie is currently seeing $800K-$900K after shows that began at 3PM. However, Fly Me to the Moon isn’t a Thursday night crowd type of movie, more Friday night and Saturday. Originally, Longlegs was projected to do in the high single digits.
In Longlegs, Maika Monroe plays an FBI agent who is assigned to an unsolved serial killer case that takes unexpected turns, revealing evidence of the occult. She learns of a personal connection to the killer and must stop him before he strikes again. Nicolas Cage also stars, and NEON has kept him out of all the ad materials. The distrib rolled out cryptic clips leading into the first trailer. Get a load of the latest stunt for the movie: teaming with Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn, NEON gave teens the chance to see Longlegs on Friday night sans parents. Their chaperones at the cinema? Don’t worry, Mom and Dad, there will be bloody nuns on hand to make sure nothing happens to them.
Critics love Longlegs giving the Oz Perkins written and directed title 92% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.