The Longlegs furor might be dying down but it’s left an indelible mark on cinema, with Osgood Perkins’ horror movie beating numerous box office records.
Ever since that first cryptic teaser in January, the hype train for Longlegs continued to build, reaching fever pitch in the runup to its release date this month.
For many, it was well worth the wait – if only to see Nicolas Cage’s serial killer in all his creepy glory.
This has translated well at the box office, with Longlegs breaking a number of records, including a title previously held by one of the greatest movies of all time, Parasite.
According to the latest figures, Perkins’ new horror movie has brought in more than $58.6 million domestically and $8.1 million internationally.
This makes it Neon’s highest-grossing movie of all time, toppling Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winning comedy thriller, which drew in $53.3 million in North America.
What’s more, Longlegs’ box office success makes it the highest-grossing indie horror film of the last decade, beating A24’s Talk to Me, which earned $48 million domestically.
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All of these sales mean the film’s on track to earn a whopping $100 million with its worldwide total, impressive given the estimated budget of under $10 million.
And fans are crediting one thing: Neon’s epic marketing campaign. “A marketing campaign every small to mid sized distributor should be studying as much as possible,” said one on X/Twitter.
“And with a budget of less than $10 million too,” wrote another, while a third added, “Well deserved, like the movie or not, seeing horror films achieve these kinds of highs can only benefit the genre.”
Not everyone is happy with the outcome, however, including this person who commented, “That’s a little crazy and I blame those that don’t watch foreign language films a bit because Longlegs was good but it doesn’t even touch Parasite imo.”
Another simply wrote, “Not even close to Parasite.”
For more, check out our roundup of the best horror movies ever made. You can also read everything we know about Smile 2, 28 Years Later, and the Speak No Evil remake.
