The opening for Paramount Pictures’ new adaptation of Stephen King‘s classic Pet Sematary (read our review) was anything but sour.
Directed by Starry Eyes filmmakers Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer, the modern take opened to a strong estimated $25M domestic take on a reported $20M budget. It added another $17.3M internationally for a globally opening of $42.3M. The film needs to top $70M globally in order to be considered a success, which seems more than likely. If Paramount were to make another film, the producers have expressed a desire to explore a prequel, rather than a sequel.
Pet Sematary follows Dr. Louis Creed (Jason Clarke), who, after relocating with his wife Rachel (Amy Seimetz) and their two young children (Jeté Laurence, Hugo and Lucas Lavoie) from Boston to rural Maine, discovers a mysterious burial ground hidden deep in the woods near the family’s new home. When tragedy strikes, Louis turns to his unusual neighbor, Jud Crandall (John Lithgow), setting off a perilous chain reaction that unleashes an unfathomable evil with horrific consequences.
[Spoilers] ‘Pet Sematary’ versus ‘Pet Sematary’: From Book to Screen
Jordan Peele‘s slasher hit Us (read our review) continues to tether together audiences across the world. After opening to a massive $70M here in the States ($86.9M globally), in its third weekend of release, the Lupita Nyong’o starrer added another estimated $13.81M domestic and has now topped $200M worldwide ($216.6M as of this writing). Even more impressive is that Us has already surpassed Peele’s Oscar-winning Get Out, which ended its run at $176M. Us should easily break $250M in its worldwide run. A sequel is all but guaranteed if Peele were to want to make one.
Us is set in present day along the iconic Northern California coastline and stars Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o as Adelaide Wilson, a woman returning to her beachside childhood home with her husband, Gabe (Black Panther’s Winston Duke), and their two children (Shahadi Wright Joseph, Evan Alex) for an idyllic summer getaway.
Haunted by an unexplainable and unresolved trauma from her past and compounded by a string of eerie coincidences, Adelaide feels her paranoia elevate to high-alert as she grows increasingly certain that something bad is going to befall her family.
After spending a tense beach day with their friends, the Tylers (Emmy winner Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker, Cali Sheldon, Noelle Sheldon), Adelaide and her family return to their vacation home. When darkness falls, the Wilsons discover the silhouette of four figures holding hands as they stand in the driveway. Us pits an endearing American family against a terrifying and uncanny opponent: doppelgängers of themselves.
READ ALSO: Jordan Peele’s Us Has a Really Fun Easter Egg Connection to The Lost Boys
