Horrible box-office result for Mother! but It makes another killing

Cinema still of Mother! starring Jennifer Lawrence. PHOTO: UIP

LOS ANGELES (NYTimes) - Horror has printed money for Hollywood this year.

Get Out, Annabelle: Creation and Split took in a combined US$850 million (S$1.1 billion).

It collected US$120.3 million worldwide between Friday and Sunday, for an astounding two-week global total of about US$371 million.

But how much horror - and of what kind - do moviegoers want?

Darren Aronofsky's cerebral Mother! was marketed as a psychological horror film in the vein of Rosemary's Baby but the masses did not embrace it.

Mother! sold about US$7.5 million in tickets in North America, about 30 per cent less than analysts had expected prior to release.

That was a disappointing start for a film that received solid reviews, played in 2,368 theatres and stars one of Hollywood's most popular actresses, Jennifer Lawrence.

Mother! took in an additional US$6 million in limited release overseas.

Mother! may also have suffered from competition from It, No. 1 again over the weekend.

Paramount moved up the release of Aronofsky's film by a month to capitalise on buzz generated by film festival premieres. But then It became a smash hit.

Between September and December, studios are scheduled to release at least seven films with horror elements, up from four in the same period last year.

Sony on Sept 29 will roll out a remake of Flatliners, which mixes science fiction and horror.

Lionsgate will use Jigsaw on Oct 27 to try to resuscitate its torture-themed Saw franchise.

Other entries include Friend Request, about a demon who kills college students, and Polaroid, a high school horror mystery.

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