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With Release Of 'Happy Death Day,' Blumhouse's Top 13 Movie Box Office Openings, Ranked

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Universal Pictures/Blumhouse Productions

Happy Death Day has turned out to be another home run for Hollywood’s horror movie hit-makers, Blumhouse Productions.

With an opening weekend of $26.5 million on a budget of $5 million, it took the top spot at the box office, the horror comedy follows the success of Split and Get Out earlier in the year which opened with $40.01 million and $33.38 million respectively. Happy Death Day, which has a relatively unknown cast, also has the honor or being the tenth biggest opening weekend for Blumhouse.

In honor of Happy Death Day’s very respectable debut, I’ve taken a look at Blumhouse Productions’ 13 biggest box office opening weekends to date. Blumhouse has released 33 films theatrically so why 13? As it’s October, the month of Halloween, it seems only right to cut it off there. All figures are unadjusted for inflation.

13. Ouja (Universal) 2014

Opening Weekend: $19.88 million

Final Box Office: $50.86 million

This film about teenagers who unleash spirits from an Ouija board was overwhelmingly panned by critics. That didn’t stop Ouija becoming a commercial success taking $103.6 million worldwide over a $5 million budget. Oddly, and sadly, a prequel released in 2016, Ouija: Origin of Evil, was far superior yet was less successful.

12. Insidious Chapter 3 (Focus) 2015

Opening Weekend: $22.69 million

Final Box Office: $52.22 million

Insidious: Chapter 3 was, unsurprisingly, the third entry in Blumhouse’s supernatural horror franchise but acted as a prequel to the first two films. It was written and directed by Leigh Whannell and was also his directorial debut and grossed $113 million globally against a budget of $10-11.2 million. A fourth Insidious film, Insidious: The Last Key hits theaters in January 2018.

11. The Visit (Universal) 2015

Opening Weekend: $25.43 million

Final Box Office: $65.21 million

Considered to be something of a return to form for writer-director M. Night Shyamalan, this found footage horror received overall mixed reviews. The Visit was a box office success, grossing $98.5 million worldwide against its $5 million budget. His next film, Split, was an even bigger hit and played a key role 2017 being a bumper year for Blumhouse.

10. Happy Death Day (Universal) 2017

Opening Weekend: $26.5 million

Final Box Office: TBD

Happy Death Day follows a college student who is murdered on her birthday, and who then begins reliving the day over and over again; at that point, she sets out to stop her death and find the killer. Critics gave it a mostly warm reception and described it as “Groundhog Day meets Scream.” The film is perhaps most notable for knocking the acclaimed-but-underperforming sci-fi epic Blade Runner 2049 off the top spot after just one week as the under-25s embraced gore over awe.

9. Paranormal Activity 4 (Paramount) 2012

Opening Weekend: $29 million

Final Box Office: $53.9 million

Paranormal Activity 4, obviously the fourth installment in the Paranormal Activity series, was a sequel to Paranormal Activity 2, set several years later. It grossed $53.9 million domestically and racked up a worldwide total of $140.71 million. Reviews ranged from mixed to negative but that didn’t stop it making it onto Blumhouse’s top ten opening weekends list.

David Sprague

8. The Purge: Anarchy (Universal) 2014

Opening Weekend: $29.82 million

Final Box Office: $71.96 million

Although The Purge: Anarchy got mixed reviews from critics, Frank Grillo’s performance in the film’s lead role was widely praised and the film itself was considered a considerable improvement on the original The Purge. This sequel also took the action from one location, a house, to the streets of Los Angeles. The Purge: Anarchy grossed over $111 million worldwide and spawned a sequel, The Purge: Election Year. Speaking of which….

7. The Purge: Election Year (Universal) 2016

Opening Weekend: $31.52 million

Final Box Office: $79.21 million

The Purge: Election Year, the third film in the franchise, grossed over $118 million, becoming the highest-grossing film of the series and saw Frank Grillo returning to the lead role of Leo Barnes. It also grossed $3.6 million in Thursday night previews domestically, outperforming both of its predecessors. A fourth film, set up as a prequel to the first three films, is currently in development as is a spinoff TV show. The Purge franchise has also become a key part of the Halloween Horror Nights events at Universal Studios in Los Angeles and Orlando.

6. Get Out (Universal) 2017

Opening Weekend: $33.38 million

Final Box Office: $175.48 million

The directorial debut of Jordan Peele, who also co-wrote and co-produced Get Out, follows a young interracial couple who visit the mysterious estate of the woman's parents, uncovering a dark reality. Following red-hot buzz from its premiere at Sundance Film Festival it was widely acclaimed by critics and grossed $253 million worldwide against its $4.5 million budget and became the most profitable film of 2017.

5. The Purge (Universal) 2013

Opening Weekend: $34.06 million

Final Box Office: $64.47 million

Made for $3 million, The Purge told the story of a family held hostage during the titular Purge, a 12-hour time period where all illegal acts are decriminalized and bloody chaos reigns. The reviews weren’t great but it was a hit and it went on to gross $89.3 million worldwide and spawned a franchise.

4. Split (Universal) 2017

Opening Weekend: $40.01 million

Final Box Office: $138.14 million

James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy lead the cast in this psychological horror-thriller film about a man with 23 different personalities who kidnaps and imprisons three teenage girls in an isolated underground facility. It received generally positive reviews and was a hit with audiences taking $278 million worldwide on a budget of $9 million. Split is a standalone sequel to Unbreakable, and a 2019 sequel, entitled Glass, has been confirmed and is in production, combining the casts including McAvoy, Brice Willis and Samuel L. Jackson.

3. Insidious Chapter 2 (FilmDistrict) 2013

Opening Weekend: $40.27 million

Final Box Office: $83.59 million

The original film’s lead cast, Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne, reprised their roles as a husband and wife looking to uncover the secret that has left them dangerously connected to the spirit world. Domestically, Insidious Chapter 2 earned $1.5 million from its Thursday night showings and reached a $20 million Friday total, making it the biggest opening day in September box office history at that time. Worldwide it went on to gross $161.92 million against a budget of $5 million.

2. Paranormal Activity 2 (Paramount) 2010

Opening Weekend: $40.68 million

Final Box Office: $84.75 million

Domestically, Paranormal Activity 2 broke the record for biggest midnight gross for an R-rated film with $6.3 million, beating the previous record-holder Watchmen by $4.6 million. It also broke the record for biggest opening for a horror movie of all time up to that point. Paranormal Activity 2, which had a budget of $3 million, started and completed production in the space of only three weeks.

1. Paranormal Activity 3 (Paramount) 2011

Opening Weekend: $52.57 million

Final Box Office: $104.03 million

Although numerically the third in the franchise, chronologically it is the first installment and serves as a prequel, mostly set 18 years before the events of the first two films. Paranormal Activity 3 broke a number of domestic box office records when it hit theaters including setting a new record for a midnight opening for a horror film ($8 million) and the best opening day for a horror film in the United States ($26.2 million). To top it all, Paranormal Activity 3 even received generally positive reviews from critics. Spooky.

Happy Death Day is in theaters now and also features as part of this year's Halloween Horror Nights event at Universal Studios in Hollywood and Orlando

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