Fox Searchlight hid Ready or Not but filmgoers still managed to find it.
Directed by Radio Silence, the horror-comedy starring Samara Weaving had a severe awareness issue heading into its first weekend, not to mention opening after the majority of children have returned school. Still, the critically acclaimed R-rated “Disney” film managed to find an audience with a $10.57M opening, slightly higher than early projections.
Budgeted at a reported $6M, the film only needs $20-25M to recoup its small investment. This is likely, especially if Fox handles its own international distribution. We’ll be tracking this one over the next few weeks, but are crossing our fingers that it gains an even stronger word-of-mouth audience.
Ready or Not, which is from V/H/S and Southbound filmmakers Radio Silence, follows a young bride (Weaving) as she joins her new husband’s (Mark O’Brien) rich, eccentric family (Adam Brody, Henry Czerny, Andie MacDowell) in a time-honored tradition that turns into a lethal game with everyone fighting for their survival.
47 Meters Down: Uncaged, which had similar problems as Ready or Not, managed another $4M this weekend for a domestic take of $15.4M. International numbers have started to trickle in, but they’re insignificant as of this writing.
With double the budget as the first, the $12.5M isn’t going to be easy to recoup, unless the sequel finds a way to swim into the $35-$40M domestic range. It won’t.
While Bloody Disgusting’s William Bibbiani wasn’t a huge fan of 47 Meters Down: Uncaged, I found it to be a thrilling underwater nightmare with more than a handful of jump-out-of-your-seat scares. In fact, it felt just like a slasher movie (Director Johannes Roberts said it’s “almost like a John Carpenter movie,” adding that the film boasted “Michael Myers sharks.“)
“The film tells the story of four teens diving in a ruined underwater city, who quickly find themselves in a watery hell as their adventure turns to horror when they learn they are not alone in the submerged caves. As they swim deeper into the claustrophobic labyrinth of caves they enter the territory of the deadliest shark species in the ocean.”
