Nosferatuhas surprised everyone with a ferocious box office haul.
Since itsChristmasDay arrival, the Robert Eggersvampirepicture has put up strong numbers. The domestic weekend total was $21.6M, which puts it just behindSmile 2’s $23M opening. As of right now,Smile 2is the third highest-grossing horror film of the year. So that already bodes well.
But those weekend numbers don’t include Christmas and the day after. That bumpsNosferatu’s 5-day total to a terrific $40.8 million.Varietyreports that the “ticket sales also rank as the biggest Christmas Day launch and weekend haul for a genre film, overtaking the benchmark set in 1998 byRobert Rodriguez’s high school sci-fi storyThe Facultywith $4.4 million on opening day and $11.6 million over the traditional weekend.”
The head of distribution for Focus Features, Lisa Bunnel, toldVariety:
When we dated the film for Christmas, people weren’t like, “Wow, that’s an easy fit.” Exhibitors were taken aback that we were going to do this gothic story on Christmas Day. We were able to turn it into an event, and it worked tremendously. The movie itself delivers, and that’s always the most important thing.
At this point, it looks likeNosferatumay well cross the $100 million domestic threshold, which would be a huge win for movie fans.
10 Best Dracula Movies, Ranked
From classics to modern hits, explore the best of Dracula.
Why The Success OfNosferatuMatters
Nosferatuwas written and directed by Robert Eggers, an incredibly talented visual artist who’s gained quite a cult following. His first film,The Witch(2014), along withThe BabadookandIt Follows, had a major influence on the horror genre, helping to codify the “elevated horror” concept that’s been so popular over the last decade.
Despite the acclaim,The Witchhad a domestic box office of only $25M. Eggers followed with another critical darling and cult favorite,The Lighthouse(2019). It starred Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, but made a mere $10M.
But Focus Features liked what it saw from Eggers, and gave him a $70M-$90M budget for a Viking epic adapting the legend of Amleth (the same story that inspired Shakespeare’sHamletand Disney’sTheLion King). The cast had Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, and Willem Dafoe. The fight scenes are arguably some of the best in movie history and so violent they makeThe Gladiatorlook PG.
But the domestic box office? A mere $34M. Worldwide only hit $69.6M.
If a talent like Eggers can’t translate craftsmanship to box office success, that wouldn’t bode well for Hollywood. Studios could see it as a negative return on artistry and would continue to prioritize function over form.
Thankfully,Nosferatuproves that audiences do respond to both form and function, especially for mid-budget genre films. Eggers having a win like this makes it possible for the next auteur to have an opportunity (and runway) to do the same.
