Devil’s Due Stillborn at the Box Office

Steve Barton   |  

Jan 19, 2014

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share on LinkedIn
• Share on Flipboard
• Share on Reddit
• Share on Pinterest
• Share on WhatsApp
• Share via Email

Only three weeks into 2014, and we’ve already had two found footage horror movies open on the big screen. So how did Devil’s Due do against surprisingly stiff competition this Martin Luther King Day weekend? Let’s just say this baby is going to be an only child.

Unless you were Kevin Hart and Ice Cube, American soldiers battling the Taliban, or CGI squirrels in pursuit of nuts, the third weekend of 2014 was not a particularly happy one.

Ride Along proved to be a surprise juggernaut, taking in a record-breaking $48 million for the four-day MLK holiday weekend. Peter Berg’s Lone Survivor dropped down to second with another big $27 million weekend. Kiddy animated newcomer The Nut Job also surprised with a $26 million third place opening.

So where’s Devil’s Due aka Paranormal Maternity aka The Rosemary’s Baby Project aka The Devil Inside Her?

Well, once you drop down past the disappointing Jack Ryan reboot and still surging holiday holdovers Frozen and American Hustle, you’ll find the found footage devil baby flick pretty much stillborn in 7th place with an estimated $10 million haul. Sure, Devil’s Due didn’t cost much to make but that’s still barely half of what Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones took in two weeks ago and keep in mind that was also considered something of a disappointing opening. Could it be that audiences are finally tiring of found footage films?

Adding insult to injury, Devil’s Due got rated a D+ Cinemascore. Once again, the people going to see these found footage horror movies almost never seem to come away happy.

As for Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones, two weeks ago it opened in 2nd with about $19 million; last weekend it death plunged to 9th place. This weekend it’s nearly out of the Top 20 altogether. Even though the tiny budgeted terror already made its money, there may not be that much activity left for this horror franchise at this rate.

Next weekend the world finally receives the gift of sexy Frankenstein Matrix-fu’ing shape-shifting gargoyles. Can I, Frankenstein top the box office or have all those months of having to sit through the trailer before nearly every damn movie I’ve gone to see at the theater been for naught?

Subscribe to our Newsletter