With the first half of 2021 winding down, it's worth wondering how certain films have performed at the box office so far. In particular, the horror genre has always been a big draw at the movie theater, but given the global lockdown mandate issued in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the past 18 months or so have been anything but business as usual at the cineplex.
Coupled with the increasing popularity of streaming platforms, the fate of theatrically-released films seems more precarious than ever. However, with theaters slowly reopening as more citizens around the world get vaccinated, the horror genre has found moderate to great financial success so far in 2021.
The Reckoning - $143,532
Dog Soldiers and The Descent director Neil Marshall returned to the horror genre in 2021 after a half-dozen years with The Reckoning, a witchcraft movie released in the U.S. in February. Unfortunately, because of its subpar ratings, the film only earned $143,532 (according to The Numbers).
Based on the story Red Hex by Edward Evers-Swindell, The Reckoning centers on Grace (Charlotte Kirk), a woman accused of being a witch after her losing her husband to the bubonic plague. Tortured to no end by a ruthless witch hunter, Grace must summon the inner strength to free herself and find safety.
The Resort - $191,996
Despite earning abysmal reviews, Taylor Chien's beachy Hawaiian-set horror film The Resort sold more than 20,000 tickets en route to grossing $191,996 at the box office. The sophomore effort comes 10 years after Chien directed his feature debut, Cornered.
The Resort traces a quartet of friends who travel to Hawaii to examine a reportedly haunted abandoned hotel. Desperate to catch a glimpse of the notorious Half-Faced Girl, the friends get far more than they bargained for when their vacation takes an ultra-violent turn for the worst.
Willy's Wonderland - $418,286
The drawing power of movie star Nicolas Cage helped Kevin Lewis's unrated comedic-action-horror film Willy's Wonderland earn $418,286 in 2021, becoming the highest-grossing genre film to come without an official MPAA rating.
Cage stars as The Janitor in the film, a loner who acts as a custodian for a closed family fun pavilion called Willy's Wonderland. Forced to work there as a way to pay for his broken car repairs, The Janitor soon finds himself in a battle against demonic animatronic toy dolls.
In The Earth - $1.1 Million
Acclaimed English writer/director Ben Wheatley returned to the genre that started his career with In The Earth, a salient and topical horror film about the scientific search for a cure to a cataclysmic virus. The film was released on April 16, 2021, and has since grossed $1.1 million.
Made in 15 days as a direct response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the small independent feature from Neon consists of just six characters. The cerebral existential horror film also currently boasts a 63 Metascore, indicating slightly more favorable reviews than negative ones.
Wrong Turn - $1.25 Million
Erroneously marketed as a loose reboot, the 2021 horror movie Wrong Turn has nothing to do with the motorist movie franchise also written by Alan B. McElroy. Instead, the film uses the title to tell a completely different story about a cult-like commune of hill people in Appalachia.
Despite the mix-up, the R-rated horror film has earned $1.25 million since its release on January 26, 2021. Directed by Mike P. Nelson, the story follows a group of hikers who happen upon a sect called The Foundation dwelling deep in the woods and living by their own horrifying lifestyle.
Separation - $4.5 Million
Released on April 30, 2021, William Brent Bell's psychological horror movie Separation has grossed over $4.5 million so far. The film charts the PTSD-ridden mindset of 8-year-old Jenny (Violet McGraw), who begins to heal with the help of her deceased mother's spirit.
After her lawyerly mother Maggie dies in a hit-and-run accident, Jenny falls into deep despair. With the help of her artist father's toy puppets that begin to come to life, and with the comfort provided by her mother's ghost, Jenny begins to feel better. However, a nasty custody battle between her father and grandfather ignites the puppets' dark side.
The Unholy - $30.8 Million
Screen Gems' religious horror film The Unholy performed just as well at the domestic box office as it did abroad, earning $15.5 million in North America and $15.3 million internationally for a total gross of $30.8 million.
Released on April 2, 2021, the film revolves around Alice (Cricket Brown), a young girl with a hearing impairment who claims to have been granted the power to see, hear, and heal the infirmed after being visited by the Virgin Mary. As a series of supernatural phenomena ensues, washed-up journalist Gerry Fenn (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) seeks answers.
Spiral - $36.3 Million
As the ninth entry in the Saw film series and the first to be released in the last four years, Spiral performed better at the North American box office than it did elsewhere. The film earned $23 million domestically and $13.3 million internationally for a total worldwide take of $36.3 million.
When a sadistic copycat killer begins designing elaborate death traps in the vein of Jigsaw, Detective Zeke Banks (Chris Rock) looks to catch the culprit while making his father Marcus (Samuel L. Jackson), a former policeman who has a history pursuing Jigsaw, proud.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It - $142.8 Million
As the eighth entry into the beloved Conjuring franchise, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It has performed extremely well at the box office in 2021. Released on June 4, the film has already amassed $53.6 million in North America and $89.2 in other territories for a total of $142.8 million and counting.
Functioning as a sequel to The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2, the film follows paranormal investigators Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) as they search for answers pertaining to a murder possibly caused by demonic possession.
A Quiet Place: Part II - $223 Million
A Quiet Place Part II is not only the highest-grossing horror movie of 2021 thus far, but it also happens to be the most well-reviewed horror film of the year as well. A smashing success across the board, the film has earned a total of $223 million across all territories.
The film revisits the dire survival story of the Abbott family, who continue to traverse the land of post-apocalyptic America in total silence as a way to keep the deadly sound-hunting monsters at bay. Released on May 28, 2021, the film has so far grossed $126.3 million domestically and an additional $96.7 million abroad.