Blumhouse’s Wolf Man looks set to be a monster at the box office

Leigh Whannell may not be a name everyone knows, but if you’re a horror fan, he’s undoubtedly influenced your life in some way over the past 20 years. As co-creator of both the long-running and successful “Saw” franchise In addition to “Insidious,” he certainly left a mark. Not to mention his work as a director, which includes Upgrade and The Invisible Man. In other words, Whannell’s work is worth paying attention to. Case in point, his new film “Wolf Man” is attracting more than a few eyeballs and personalities to be a hit for Blumhouse and Universal when it hits theaters next weekend.

‘Wolf Man’ is currently eyeing an opening weekend in the $20-30 million per dollar range Box office theory. That would be a strong start, especially for a film made on a meager $7 million production budget. Granted, this doesn’t include marketing, but even so, this seems to be a huge success at first. It also doesn’t hurt that it was the last major horror film to hit theaters Nosferatu on Christmas Day, killing her up to this point. However, by next week, audiences will be ready for something different.

One thing that definitely seems to be on Whannell’s side here is the critical acclaim. Although full reviews for the film have not dropped as of this writing, Early social media reactions to “Wolf Man” have been mostly very positive Despite early marketing hype that provided a somewhat unflattering look at the design of the titular creature in the film. Fortunately, based on early word, that is The tragically bad wolf man from last year’s Halloween Horror Nights It does not represent the entire actual movie.

The only downside really is that “Wolf Man” will have competition coming up. On January 24, Steven Soderbergh’s supernatural horror film “Presence” opens in theaters. Next, Warner Bros. The sci-fi horror film “Companion” will arrive at the end of the month. The latter film has a lot of merit, too, as it hails from producer Zach Krieger of “Barbarian” fame. However, all of these films are presented in different subgenres, so there can/should be a place for everyone.

Wolf Man follows Blake (Christopher Abbott), a man who inherits his remote childhood home in Oregon after his father disappears under mysterious circumstances. Although his marriage to his wife, Charlotte (Julia Garner), is on the rocks, Blake convinces her to take a break from the city and visit home with their young daughter, Ginger (Matlida Firth). However, when they arrive home, they are attacked by an unseen animal and must barricade themselves inside the building while the creature lurks. Then, as night falls, Blake starts acting strange. Horror ensues.

Whannell is coming in 2020 “The Invisible Man,” which became a hit and prompted him to land a first-look deal with Blumhouse. It was also a huge winner both critically and commercially, which is part of what prompted the director to put his stamp on the werewolf mythos.

If word of mouth isn’t so disastrous from moviegoers, with an opening of this size, especially when taking into account overseas revenues, “Wolf Man” could easily gross $100 million worldwide. It tracks opening in the same ballpark as “Longlegs” ($22.4 million opening/$126.9 million worldwide) and “Smile 2” ($23 million opening/$138 million worldwide). This is a good company to be in.

Assuming all goes well, Blumhouse is positioned to start 2025 much stronger than it did in 2024. At this time last year, if you remember, the studio released the horror film Night Swim which grossed just over About $54 million worldwide. It was still a small financial success, but not on the level the studio often delivers. It wasn’t Until “Speak No Evil” came out last September That Blumhouse has finally turned things around. That being the case, 2025 is already shaping up to be a much better time for Blumhouse, horror, and the box office in general.

“The Wolf Man” hits theaters on January 17, 2025.