Longlegs Earns Big at Box Office as Exciting New Indie-Horror
Following its opening weekend, Longlegs became the biggest indie horror film of the year.
Though Illumination’s Despicable Me 4 recently earned the number one spot at the box office with $44.6 million, the indie-horror runner-up, Longlegs, has created much more buzz.
With a whopping box office revenue of $22.6 million after its debut on July 12, the new film breaks records for its distributor, Neon, by earning the biggest opening weekend yet for the company. The film also had the most successful debut weekend for an original horror film this year.
Hail Satan. pic.twitter.com/ZFlLHKIOV9
— NEON (@neonrated) July 14, 2024
Starring Maika Monroe and Nicholas Cage, Longlegs follows Lee Harker, an FBI agent on the trail of an elusive serial killer. When Harker uncovers evidence of the occult, she also finds a personal connection to the murderer and resolves to put a stop to his vicious crimes.
Set in the nostalgic 1990s, the film draws inspiration from classic vintage horrors such as Jonathan Demme’s Silence of the Lambs and David Fincher’s Se7en. Along with its impressive box office returns, the new film gained a critical score of 86% on Rotten Tomatoes and an audience score of 63%.
The horror film’s smashing box office success is thanks, in part, to its remarkably creepy and immersive marketing campaign. Channeling the haunting creativity of The Blair Witch Project’s campaign, marketing tools for Longlegs included cryptic, untitled trailers and a primitive, 90s-style website with crime scene pictures and detailed information on the fictional Longlegs murderer and his victims. There was also a phone number which, when dialed, allowed the caller to hear Longlegs (Cage) whisper, “There she is! What’s your name, Little Angel? Nice to meet you. Ohhh…. I’ll be. Waiting.”
Call the Man Downstairs.
— ↃL⊥\\Ↄ—\\ᘰ (@LonglegsFilm) June 17, 2024
458.666.4355 pic.twitter.com/S1v3Z2zEC4
On the film’s genius marketing campaign, Elissa Federoff, Neon’s chief distribution officer, stated, “This has been a really wild ride. Working with the film’s creative team, we have been able to put together something really special. When you start with a film as wholly original as this one and you combine it with a fully fleshed out, bespoke marketing campaign, you can achieve something extraordinary.”
LONGLEGS (2024) A great Oz Perkins film- 100% his vibe. It is comforting when a colleague fares well while staying faithful to the rhythms and motifs that have made his career. His metronome, his meticulous composition and his uncanny sense of evil and impending doom. pic.twitter.com/UkbqYMqqD3
— Guillermo del Toro (@RealGDT) July 14, 2024
God, how I loved LONGLEGS.
— Jake Hamilton (@JakesTakes) July 15, 2024
The slow burning dread, the horribly unsettling reveal of Nicolas Cage’s blood curdling performance, the way the ending left my jaw dropped on the theater floor.
I overheard several theater goers afterwards hating it — I thought it was a masterpiece. pic.twitter.com/lvUEs2iHZL
Longlegs is in theaters now. Readers can purchase tickets for the film online.
