In A Violent Nature, an undead murderous monster’s slow striding through the woods, has generated IFC Films’ second-best opening ever since its indie horror hit Late Night With The Devil in March.
The artsy slasher written and directed by Chris Nash will see an estimated weekend gross of $2.1 million on 1,426 screens, IFC’s widest opening ever, and a no. 8 spot at the domestic box office.
Late Night, by Cameron and Colin Cairnes, which opened to $2.8 million at 1,034 locations, is pushing $10 million. It returns to theaters June 6 and runs through the weekend on about 500 screens.
In A Violent Nature “has been steadily making waves for redefining the classic slasher genre” since its Sundance premiere, said Scott Shooman, head of AMC Networks Film Group, calling Nash’s feature debut “a film that will have a lasting impact in the horror space.”
At 87% with critics on Rotten Tomatoes, the film is one of the best reviewed horrors of 2024 (with Late Night, Shudder Original’s Infested and IFC/Shudder’s Stopmotion. Some RT audiences seem less immediately enthusiastic but it’s very early days.
Bleecker Street’s Ezra will gross $1.18 million in its opening weekend on 1,320 screens, a putting the film by Tony Goldwyn at no. 9 at the domestic box office .
And Shout! Studios western The Dead Don’t Hurt, written and directed by and starring Viggo Mortensen, saw a nice $354k at 735 locations, selling out screenings at Regal Union Square in New York where Mortensen and co-star Vicky Krieps appeared for a Q&A, with strong opening weekends across major markets.
“We are delighted the film is resonating and we look forward to audiences continuing to discover this captivating tale of the American West throughout the summer,” said Julie Dansker, Shout!’s SVP of Content Strategy.
Krieps and Mortensen are a couple and settlers in the American west whose live are upended when he joins the Union army. The film premiered at TIFF where Krieps took a TIFF Tribute Performer Award.
Limited openings: Neon’s Spanish animated Robot Dreams by Pablo Berger grossed a solid $32.5k at two NYC locations – Film Forum and AMC Lincoln Square.
Neon horror Handling The Undead took in $8k at one theater. The Sundance-premiering Norwegian horror by Thea Hvistendahl stars Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person In The World). The distributor’s Babes by Pamela Adlon took in $910k on 1,100 screens for a cume of $2.76 million.
Oscilloscope’s Flipside, a doc by Chris Wilcha, executive produced by Judd Apatow, opened to $12.9k at one location, the IFC Center in NYC.