Y’know, we figured Lee Cronin’s Evil Dead Rise was headed towards a successful opening weekend. All the pieces were in place: a series of pre-release screenings that yielded enthusiastic responses from audiences, a franchise with a die-hard fanbase that hadn’t been served a new Evil Dead feature in a decade, more than one killer trailer, the promise of a cheese grater being used to delightfully gnarly effect. If anything, we’d have been surprised if no one showed up!
But show up they did, and in even greater numbers than some of us may’ve expected: Evil Dead Rise pulled in $40M at the worldwide box office this weekend, with $23.5M coming from the States and the other $16.8M coming in from overseas. This was, as the Hollywood Reporter put it, “ahead of expectations and on par with the likes of recent horror hit Cocaine Bear” (which went on to rack up roughly $90M worldwide in ticket sales). Well done, Lee Cronin and company!
And also, well done to the horror fans who turned out for this one. As we’ve pointed out on numerous occasions over the past few years, the horror genre remains one of the only near-guarantees at the box office these days, right up there with “superhero movies” and “anything involving the Super Mario Bros.” When the horror genre produces a hit, we all end up winning (after all, a rising tide [of blood] lifts all boats). In this case, it’s particularly satisfying, given that Evil Dead Rise was originally scheduled to premiere on HBO Max (or what was then known as HBO Max).
Anyway, three cheers for Evil Dead Rise. Here’s hoping we’re not waiting another decade for the next one (although, based on recent comments made by Evil Dead producer Bruce Campbell, that sounds like something we maybe don’t need to worry about). Bring on the next round of Deadite mayhem!
