UPDATE: 2025-08-02 08:30 EST BY BRENNAN KLEIN

Longlegs Comes In At Higher End Of Projections With $22.6 Million

This article was originally written Saturday AM and has been updated Sunday AM with altered box office projections (in bold), a full chart, and further analysis.

Longlegs 2024 Movie Poster

Summary

Longlegsis nearing a box office opening weekend record whileFly Me to the Moonsputters and stalls.Fly Me to the Moonis a new romantic comedy fromLove, Simondirector Greg Berlanti that stars Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum as a pair of NASA employees who spark a romance during the Space Race. TheLonglegsreleasetakes almost the exact opposite tone, as the Osgood Perkins horror movie starring Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage follows a young FBI agent on the tail of an eerie serial killer.

PerDeadline, the domestic box office for the weekend of July 12 is projected to be dominated by the holdover animated hitsDespicable Me 4at No. 1 andInside Out 2at No. 3 by the end of Sunday. However,Longlegshas taken No. 2 as it approaches a total of$22.6 million, which marksdistributor NEON’s best opening weekend in historyin addition to 2024’s best original horror debut. Meanwhile,Fly Me to the Moonis projected to open to an underwhelming $10 million against its whopping $100 million budget.

Fly Me to the Moon (2024) - Poster - Scarlett Johanson & Channing tatum

Even With Despicable Me 4 Holding No. 1, The Top 5 Chart Is Shaken Up

The Domestic Top 5 Looks Very Different From The Previous Week

The Minions movie has perhaps unsurprisingly retained its chart-topping position as it pushes theDespicable Mefranchisepast the $5 billion mark, making it the first animated franchise to ever do so. However, the rest of the chart sees nothing but movement. AsLonglegspushes bothInside Out 2andA Quiet Place: Day Onedown a peg from last week’s positionsat No. 2 and No. 3 respectively,Fly Me to the Moonshoulders past the rest of the competition, settling into place at No. 5. Below, see the full domestic box office Top 5 chart for the weekend:

1

$75 million

$210.4 million (weekend 2)

2

$22.6 million

$22.6 million (weekend 1)

3

$21 million

$571.8 million (weekend 5)

4

$11.5 million

$115.9 million (weekend 3)

5

$10 million

$10 million (weekend 1)

Meanwhile, two other titles have fallen off the chart completely thanks to the new releases crowding them out. The Ti West trilogy-capperMaXXXinehas fallen from No. 5 to No. 8with a 3-day total of $2.2 million. This is a 66% week-on-week drop, which is not entirely unusual for any horror release, as the genre tends to peak significantly during opening weekend. The fact thatLonglegsis taking up most of the oxygen for low-budget horror likely didn’t help.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die, which has earned a 3-day total of $4.4 million during its sixth weekend in theaters, has also fallen off the chart, landing at No. 6 after being No. 4 the previous weekend. WithTwistersblowing in during its seventh weekend, it seems unlikely that the Will Smith and Martin Lawrence legacy sequel will ever re-enter the Top 5. However, the movie can still hold its head high as it has becomethe sixth highest-grossing movie of 2024 so farworldwideat the time of writing.

Why Is Longlegs Succeeding While Fly Me To The Moon Isn’t?

The New Releases Are Extremely Different

Although both new releases are original stories helmed by respected filmmakers, their differing fates have a few possible explanations. The success of the new horror movie could potentially be explained by its cast, asthe presence of Nicolas Cage could be appealing to fans of his recent genre-bending movies,includingMandy,Pig, andDream Scenario. While this wasn’t enough to save his notorious 2023 horror-comedy flopRenfield, the new release could also be bolstered by strongLonglegsreviews, which have earned the movie a Certified Fresh 87% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Osgood Perkins previously helmed the horror moviesThe Blackcoat’s DaughterandGretel & Hansel.

Meanwhile, its rom-com competitor, which is led by a pair of A-listers (both of whom have rom-com experience under their belts), has earned a more subdued, though still Fresh, 67% score. Ultimately, this debut doesn’t necessarily spell bad news for theFly Me to the Moonrelease, as recent precedent shows thatromantic comedies have the ability to find an audienceand have their worldwide totals balloon in spite of mediocre openings. That is what happened with the 2022 smash hit rom-comAnyone But You, which only opened to $6 million, but went on to gross $220.1 million overall.

However,Fly Me to the Mooncould hit the same wall as several recent big-budget Apple Studios titles. A movie generally needs to earn at least twice its budget to turn a profit, likely making its break-even point $200 million or higher. This may prevent it from breaking even, something that its big-budget Apple predecessorsArgylle($96.2 million against a $100 million budget),Killers of the Flower Moon($157 million against roughly $200 million), andNapoleon($220 million against roughly $175 million) were unable to do. Meanwhile,Longlegs' lower budget means that it is likely already approaching its break-even point.

Longlegs

Cast

Longlegs is a horror thriller film by writer-director Osgood Perkins. When FBI agent Lee Harker is assigned to a serial killer cold case, their investigation leads them down a rabbit hole riddled with disturbing discoveries and the occult at the center of it all. When the trail of evidence reveals a personal connection, it becomes a race against time to prevent another murder.

Fly Me to the Moon

A musician and an astronaut form an unexpected romance as she prepares for a lunar mission. Their relationship faces challenges due to the distance and personal issues, leading to a journey of love and self-discovery.