Longlegs breaks record as box office figures confirmed
The new horror has had a very impressive opening weekend.
It's the horror movie that everybody's talking about and having just been released, it already seems as though Longlegs is smashing records.
Debuting in American and UK cinemas on Friday 12th July, the film has already opened with $22.6 million at the US box office, making it distributor Neon's biggest first weekend ever. It's also the biggest debut for an independent horror film in a decade.
The figure is especially impressive when you take into account the small budget that Neon spent on marketing and advertising.
With Longlegs having been produced for less than $10 million, Neon spent around the same amount of money on promotional materials but the new horror really has been positively impacted by word-of-mouth buzz.
In comparison, the other debut film over the weekend – Fly Me to the Moon – hasn't achieved the same kind of box office success despite its $100 million budget and lead stars Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson.
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On the news of Longlegs' staggering debut, Elissa Federoff, Neon’s chief distribution officer, said (via Variety): "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."
The new film comes from writer/director Osgood Perkins, the son of Psycho's Anthony Perkins, and centres on a young FBI agent (Maika Monroe) who starts looking into a shocking case that has puzzled the bureau for years.
The film's synopsis reads: "As the investigation becomes more complicated with occult evidence uncovered, Harker realises a personal link to the killer and must act quickly to prevent another family murder."
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In the title role of the serial killer is also Nicolas Cage, who has received ample critical acclaim for his performance and makeover transformation but has barely been seen in any of the promotional material for the film, only further adding to viewers' intrigue.
The now-viral marketing campaign for the film included a website done in the style of the '90s which chillingly teased Cage's character's crimes and also included a phone number that site visitors could call in order to receive a message from Cage himself.
Longlegs has amassed a quick legion of fans, with many clamouring to see whether or not the horror is just as scary as everyone is saying it is.
RadioTimes.com's own verdict says of the film that "it's the slow-burning atmosphere of dread that lives in just about every frame and the inescapable bleakness of the film's subject matter that combine to make Longlegs a horror film that really gets under the skin".
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Longlegs is available to watch in UK cinemas.
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