Longlegs breaks box office record as horror movie prepares for huge opening

Longlegs has a huge opening weekend ahead of it, but the horror movie from Neon has already set a new box office record.

Longlegs, the latest horror film from director Oz Perkins, enjoyed a marketing campaign that kept audiences on their toes.

One aspect of the marketing revolved around in-universe lore about a series of fictional murders, with each story meant to make Nicolas Cage’s eponymous character all the more terrifying. It’s working in some respect, evidenced by Longlegs’ early box office haul.

Deadline reports that Longlegs raked in $3 million from Thursday previews, a new record for Neon.

Predictions suggest the film will make between $9 million and $10 million during Friday showings, while its opening weekend could accumulate earnings between $20 million and $23 million.

Neon

Should it reach such heights, Longlegs will have secured the biggest opening weekend for Neon to date. Notably, Immaculate constitutes the previous record holder.

The Sydney Sweeney-led movie brought in $5.3 million during its opening weekend, following Thursday night previews that settled below $1 million.

At the end of its theatrical run, Immaculate had grossed more than $27 million worldwide – $15.6 million of it coming from domestic audiences. Longlegs may garner the same box office earnings in a fraction of the time.

The film follows FBI Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) as she takes on a case involving unsolved serial murders. Nicolas Cage plays the titular killer so effectively that Longlegs is being billed as the scariest movie of the year.

Director Oz Perkins told LADBible someone cried at an early screening because they “couldn’t handle” looking into Cage’s eyes. A video released by Neon also showed Monroe’s heart rate elevating to dangerous levels after she set eyes on Cage in character for the first time.

Such talk is likely contributing to Longleg’s early box office success.