Top 10 grossing horror movies Of 2017

The Halloween period is with us again. The time of year pumpkin sales skyrocket, spooky themed nights are on tv, and horror themed blog posts are rampant.

With that… here’s the rundown of the top 10 internationally grossing horror films of 2017.

1. It - $666 million (yes really)

Production Budget: $35 million

‘It’ has become the highest grossing horror movie of all time. Breaking the 44 year record set by The Exorcist which made $441m. Based on the Stephen King novel, It follows a group of kids dubbed “The Losers’ Club” in the summer of 1989 and their discovery of a terrifying shape-shifting demonic entity that takes the form of your darkest fears.

2. Annabelle: Creation $301 million

Production budget: $15 million

A prequel to 2014’s Annabelle, Annabelle: Creation explores the origins of the creepy haunted doll. Several years after the tragic death of their little girl, a doll-maker and his wife welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home, soon becoming the target of the doll maker’s possessed creation, Annabelle.

3. Split - $278 million

Production budget $9 million

Split is the latest incarnation from M. Night Shyamalan and has been described as a masterful blend of Hitchcock, horror and therapy sessions. Three girls are kidnapped by a man diagnosed with 23 distinct personalities. They must try to escape before the apparent emergence of a frightful new 24th

4. Get Out - $253 million

Production budget $4.5 million

Get Out has the second smallest budget on the list, and yet has still landed at number 4. The film received a great deal of hype as it tackles liberal racism in America. ‘Get Out’ has quickly become known as a modern horror classic. The film follows an African American man who meets his white girlfriend’s parents for the first time. It quickly becomes apparent that all is not as it seems, and the strange quickly turns to the terrifying.

5. Alien Covenant - $238 million

Production budget: $97 million

Alien Covenant has the largest budget in our list. Set 10 years after the events of 2012’s ‘Prometheus’, Alien Covenant follows a new crew bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy. They discover what they think to be an uncharted paradise. The mysterious world soon turns dark and dangerous when a hostile alien life-form forces the crew into a deadly fight for survival.

6. Rings - $82 million

Production Budget: $25 million

Rings is the third ‘Ring’ film taking place thirteen years after the events of The Ring Two. A young woman becomes worried about her boyfriend when he explores a dark subculture surrounding a mysterious videotape said to kill the watcher seven days after he has viewed it. She sacrifices herself to save her boyfriend and in doing so makes a horrifying discovery: there is a “movie within the movie” that no one has ever seen before. Despite a negative reception only getting 7% on Rotten Tomatoes, Rings is considered a commercial success.

7. 47 Meters Down - $53 million

Production Budget: $5.5 million

47 Meters Down follows two sisters on holiday in Mexico. They are invited to cage dive and see sharks up close, however the cable holding the cage breaks and it plummets to the ocean floor with the two girls trapped inside. Air supplies run low, great white sharks circle, and 85 minutes of survival horror ensues.

8. Jigsaw - $26 million

Production Budget: $10 million

‘Jigsaw’ takes place nearly a whole decade after the events of the SAW films. A new serial killer is on the loose, and they are off-ing victims with uniquely gruesome means. The same MO as John Kramer, the man known as Jigsaw, the man who has been dead for ten years. Of all the SAW films created, Jigsaw has made the least.

9. Wish Upon - $20 million

Production Budget: $12 million

Described as ‘So bad it’s destined for cult status’, Wish Upon received panning from audiences and critics alike. The plot follows a teenage girl who receives a wishing box that grants her seven wishes. The downside is, every time a wish comes true, somebody dies.

10. It Comes At Night - $17 million

Production Budget: $2.4 million

It Comes At Night is a low key, highly suspenseful horror from director Trey Edward Shults. Even with the smallest budget on our list, the film has scored a high 89% on rotten tomatoes. The film depicts a world where a mysterious apocalypse has ravaged the world with few survivors. Two families are forced to share a home in an uneasy alliance to keep the outside evil at bay – only to learn that the true horror may come from within.

It’s interesting to see that half of the productions on this list had a budget of $10 million or less. Within the horror movie industry, big budget does not always guarantee a big return. Some of the highest grossing horror films of all time like The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity and Halloween all had a budget of less that $1 million.

Source: the-numbers.com

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