After much anticipation, Neon’s long-awaited film Longlegs has finally hit theaters this weekend. This horror thriller, starring Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage, earned significant goodwill once it hit big screens worldwide, reflecting the time and effort put into its creation.
According to Deadline, Longlegs earned $22.6 million domestically despite receiving mixed reactions from movie buffs over time. This marks the biggest opening to date of Neon’s seven-year existence, surpassing Advocate as their biggest opening for an original movie. The studio is proud and has issued a press release highlighting this achievement. It’s noted that the movie’s performance is comparable to that of The Blair Witch Project.
“Not since [Blair Witch] has there been an independent genre film that out-projected, out-performed and over-indexed so wildly that it seemed to the industry it ‘came out of nowhere,'” the statement reads.
Despite all the challenges, Neon ensured that everyone was aware of Longlegs‘ arrival. In the past few months, trailers for the movie have been strategically played ahead of many blockbuster films, creating hype for the spooky flick. Additionally, their marketing campaign has cleverly hinted at potential secrets to intrigue the audience further, thus aiding in concealing Cage’s appearances within the film.
Elissa Federoff, the head of Neon Distribution, praised the marketing efforts, stating that they were “crafted with creativity and imagination.” She further emphasized that they had “built movement around this film,” highlighting that when audiences sense originality and novelty in a movie, they tend to support it wholeheartedly.
Longlegs fell short and landed in second place behind Despicable Me 4 at the box office. The animated Illumination movie managed to earn an additional $44.7 million in North America, taking its domestic box office total to $211.1 million. Moreover, it secured an extra $88 million internationally, bringing its global earnings to $437.8 million. This success has also contributed to the Despicable Me franchise crossing the $5 billion mark.
As time passes, we will continue to observe how the movie contributes to the franchise’s overall revenue.
