Why Candyman’s opening weekend beat box office expectations. Candyman, directed by Nia DaCosta, was released in theaters on August 27 and it surpassed initial box office projections that underestimated just how well it would do. Theaters have been in an ongoing slump for a while now due to the ongoing pandemic and, although there have been a few breakthroughs, it hasn’t been a typical summer at the box office for very understandable reasons. So, what makes Candyman a standout?
Co-written by DaCosta, Jordan Peele, and Win Rosenfeld, Candyman is a direct sequel to the 1992 film of the same name. Decades after the release of the original film, DaCosta revisits Cabrini-Green as Anthony, the baby kidnapped by Candyman years prior (and is played in the 2021 film by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), is haunted by the vengeful spirit once more, closing out a story that began a long time ago and carrying on the legacy of Candyman. According to Box Office Pro, the film was expected to make around $20 million in its opening weekend, up from an initial prediction of a $9 to $14 million opening weekend gross. Suffice to say the estimations short-changed Candyman completely, with the horror film earning $22.37 million in its first three days of release, playing on 3,569 theater screens across the United States. In international markets, the film grossed $5.23 million, which brings its global total to $27.6 million.
Taking into account Candyman’s $25 million budget, a $22 million U.S. debut is pretty great and is considered a success; other films getting a theater-only release are not always finding an audience, but DaCosta’s clearly did despite the rise of the delta variant and other factors. The reason behind Candyman’s box office success could be due to the fact it’s a horror film; the genre has been doing the best this year at the box office, so it’s no surprise Candyman follows suit. The film’s success might also be because of a positive critical reception. The film, despite some negative reviews, currently has an 86% Rotten Tomatoes score. A 74% audience score suggests viewers largely liked the film as well and that could prove to be a good thing if more people go to see it thanks to word of mouth.
The film attracted an audience because it was one many probably wanted to see already, be it because of the filmmakers (Peele’s name might have been a big draw considering his own success with Get Out and Us), the actors, or something else. That Candyman is only available to watch in theaters and is not available on streaming likely helped boost its box office numbers. When people are excited to see a film, they will spend money to see it and the marketing for the film surely helped to sell people on it to some extent. The film’s box office success could also be attributed to franchise recognition, though that’s less likely considering how long it’s been since the first movie came out.
At the end of the day, Candyman’s box office earnings suggest that people are still willing to go see a movie in a theater when there’s potential for it to be good. That it beat early box office expectations is impressive, with Candyman unseating Free Guy in the top spot. It also proves that a film doesn’t have to have a ridiculously expensive budget (like Jungle Cruise did) to be good or successful at the box office. Whether Candyman stays in the top spot over the next couple of weekends remains to be seen, but its opening weekend numbers reveal how capable it is in holding its own.