The Big Picture
- Night Swim had a soft debut at the global box office, falling short of previous Blumhouse releases.
- The horror film grossed $12 million domestically and $5.7 million overseas in its first weekend.
- Despite poor reviews and low audience ratings, the film has already made back its modest budget.
This week’s sole new wide release, the horror film Night Swim, had a soft debut at the global box office. Produced by Blumhouse and Atomic Monster, it marks the banners’ first release post their recent merger, although it isn’t quite matching the high standards they’ve set in the past. Night Swim grossed $12 million domestically in its first weekend, and added around $5.7 million from overseas markets, for a cumulative global debut of over $17 million.
Directed by debutante Bryce McGuire, the movie is playing in over 35 international markets and was produced on a reported budget of $15 million, which should offset risks. Night Swim outperformed recent horror titles such as Thanksgiving and Talk to Me, but is falling vastly short of the far more buzzy M3GAN, which debuted at the same time last year and went on to make nearly $200 million worldwide. M3GAN opened to $30 million domestically, while fellow Blumhouse title Five Nights at Freddy’s made $80 million in its first three days of release.
Despite debuting simultaneously on the Peacock streaming service, where it also broke viewership records, Five Nights at Freddy’s emerged as the highest-grossing movie in Blumhouse’s history, with a lifetime global haul of nearly $300 million. Wan’s Atomic Monster, on the other hand, is best known for his blockbuster Conjuring movies. The most recent entry in the shared universe, The Nun II, grossed over $260 million worldwide.
‘Night Swim’ Is Gasping for Breath Amid a Slew of Holiday Holdovers
Starring Wyatt Russell and Kerry Condon, Night Swim is based on McGuire and Rod Blackhurst’s viral three-minute short film of the same name, and focuses on a suburban family that discovers its backyard pool is haunted. The movie has received poor reviews and is currently sitting at a 27% approval rating on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. It received a disappointing C CinemaScore from opening day audiences, while Collider’s Emma Kiely wrote in her review that the “film could have gone to new depths and explored a universal irrational fear with nuance but instead decided to stay in the safety of the kiddie pool.”
January has historically been a lucrative month for horror titles — and genre films in general — but a slew of holdovers from last month are retaining their positions at the top of the charts. The musical drama Wonka, for instance, is still the audiences’ number one choice, while smaller titles such as The Iron Claw and The Boys in the Boat are holding remarkably well. The romantic comedy Anyone But You actually showed an improvement from last weekend’s numbers. Night Swim also stars Amélie Hoeferle, Gavin Warren, and Jodi Long.
You can watch the movie in theaters, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Night Swim
Feature length version of the 2014 short film about a woman swimming in her pool at night terrorized by an evil spirit.
- Release Date
- January 5, 2024
- Director
- Bryce McGuire
