Horror gets an early kick-off with the highly anticipated release of The Grudge on January 3, 2020. While big-budget studio horror movies tend to do well at the box office more often than not, horror is a genre that can do a lot with just a little; budget only matters so much in terms of their overall success rate. That being said, how much did it cost to make Ghost House Pictures’ new horror remake?
The Grudge was directed by Nicolas Pesce, who also wrote the screenplay. The story for the film was written by Pesce and Jeff Buhler (Pet Sematary). The Grudge stars Andrea Riseborough, Demián Bichir, John Cho, and horror legend Lin Shaye. Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert are producing through their studio, Ghost House Pictures along with Screen Gems and Stage 6 films. This project has been in the works since 2011, and was originally intended to serve as a reboot to the 2004 American version of the Japanese Ju-On: The Grudge, which was originally released in 2002. The director of Ju-On and the creator of the Ju-On franchise, Takashi Shimizu, also signed on to direct the first American remake, which starred Sarah Michelle Gellar, in 2004.
The Grudge 2020 hasn’t announced its official budget, but inferences can be made to speculate its approximate cost. The 2004 American remake’s budget was $10 million, which, adjusting for a 36% inflation rate using the U.S. Inflation Calculator, could mean The Grudge 2020 used a similar budget, which would be approximately $13.6 million. The Grudge’s 2004 remake saw an incredible return, as it made $187.2 million at the box office. However, its release date of October 22 is a striking difference between the two films, as horror movies released in October tend to capitalize on Halloween traffic, and get bigger audiences overall.
Update: According to Box Office Mojo, The Grudge had a budget of $10 million.
The film has been described by Pesce as a “sidequel”, which means that The Grudge will run concurrently, timeline wise, to the 2004 version. While the premise is certainly intriguing, The Grudge has its work cut out for it to maintain a strong opening weekend at a post-holiday box office. Certain types of movies tend to get released in “dump months” like January when they haven’t done as well with test audiences, don’t have as many big stars attached, or are genre films like horror. The latter is likely the case for The Grudge’s January release. While many films released during these months have gone on to do well, such as Jordan Peele’s Get Out, stand-out titles are the exception, not the rule.
One thing The Grudge may have working in its favor is that it’s the only wide release title launching on January 3rd. Other major titles won’t release until later in the month, such as Underwater (Jan. 10), Like A Boss (Jan.10), Bad Boys For Life (Jan. 17), and The Turning (Jan. 24). There is still some competition, as huge releases like Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Little Women, and Cats are still in theaters, and are more family-friendly titles. While it seems like it could be hit or miss, horror movies tend to do surprisingly well in January’s “dump month” release schedule, particularly in the 21st century. Cloverfield was released on January 18, 2008, and turned a $25 million budget into $170.8 million. Lower budget horror movies like The Devil Inside and Mama had January release dates as well, and saw a respectable amount of box office success, so it is possible for The Grudge to have a stellar opening weekend.
Next: The Grudge Is Getting ANOTHER Remake: Why That’s Unnecessary
- The Grudge Release Date: 2020-01-03
