Barbarian is a terrifying success in its opening weekend. The new horror film from writer and director Zach Cregger absolutely trounced its own expectations with a staggering $10 million in ticket sales across 2,340 theaters. This number is far better than what was projected for the Georgina Campbell vehicle, which was estimated to hit just $5 million or $6 million heading into the weekend. It’s likely the film’s viewership was propelled forward by excellent early reviews and a hefty amount of good social media word-of-mouth. Distributed by 20th Century Pictures and New Regency, Barbarian was extra successful on large format screens such as IMAX, which ultimately contributed to 29 percent of the movie’s total gross.
Barbarian, which serves as Cregger’s solo directorial debut, is currently resting comfortably at 92 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. The story follows Campbell’s character, Tess, as she arrives at an Airbnb to discover it’s already occupied by a mysterious stranger, played by It star Bill Skarsgård. Critics have praised the project’s many surprising twists and turns, which are said to be best experienced without any spoilers. Former Alvin and the Chipmunks star Justin Long also appears in the film.
The thriller has been a bright spot in an otherwise quiet Labor Day film slate, which has mostly been dominated by talk of ongoing film festivals. Sony’s highly-anticipated action-drama, The Woman King, will debut next week as Barbarian’s primary competition. It will be interesting to see how the film stands against such a star-studded affair.
Barbarian is in theaters now.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
