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Are violent genre movies how to get adults to theaters in 2025?
"28 Weeks Later" came out in 2007. Also, it's mostly been forgotten. People still, mentally, hearken back to 2002's "28 Days Later," a unexpected hit horror movie from Danny Boyle that broke Cillian Murphy through as an actor. In a sense, though, that meant "28 Years Later" was essentially relying on the goodwill of a low-budget zombie movie from over 20 years ago to succeed. Well, that and a teaser trailer that absolutely ripped.
It worked. While "How To Train Your Dragon" was the number-one movie domestically again, "28 Years Later" was second at $30 million. It also made $30 million in the rest of the world, so it's up to $60 million overall. For an R-rated movie, that is a success. The two most-successful R-rated movies of 2025 have been "Sinners" and "Final Destination Bloodlines."
In terms of box office success, this year and in recent years, it's largely been clear how to make it happen. Namely, you do live-action remakes of animated films, legacy sequels to family movies, and adaptations of games like "Minecraft." What about movies for adults, though? Well, last year the one super-successful R-rated movie was "Deadpool and Wolverine," which was a Marvel movie and for "adults" in the way Zima was for adults in the '90s. Young audiences want something they've seen before that allows them to never leave behind their childhoods. Adults, perhaps, want violent genre movies.
"Sinners" has Michael B. Jordan and a known director in Ryan Coogler. It also has plenty on its mind. However, "Sinners" is at its heart, a vampire movie. A violence-laden vampire movie. They did not shy away from that in the marketing. "Final Destination Bloodlines" is literally just, "Come watch people get killed in crazy, violent ways!" "28 Years Later" has things on its mind as well, but it's also a zombie movie and the trailer and poster literally feature a mountain of skulls. Not subtle stuff.
Having movies for adults is good, and having them be successful is encouraging because it means adults get more movies to see and enjoy. They don't all have to be A24 movies and Oscar plays, either. The year 2025, though, is all about not just violent R-rated movies succeeding, but ones full ensconced in horror-related genre work. It's something, but a future that is polarized to "Hey kids, watch this live-action remake of a cartoon from five years ago! Hey adults, check out this undead-strewn gorefest!" is far from ideal.
(h/t Variety)
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