‘Don’t Breathe’ soars at box office

The horror movie has reason to let out a big sigh of relief. Audiences turned out in droves for the late summer thriller, which brought in $26.1 million (Dh95.8 million), according to studio estimates released on Sunday.

That’s more than double the early predictions for how the scary pic would perform and far above the modest production budget, which was reportedly less than $10 million. Stage 6 Films produced and Sony’s Screen Gems oversaw distribution.

Don’t Breathe is about a group of Detroit teens who chose the wrong house to rob — that of a blind, vengeful veteran. It stars Jane Levy and Dylan Minnette and was directed by Fede Alvarez, who is known for the Evil Dead remake.

Sony Pictures Marketing Chief Josh Greenstein noted how rare it was for a film in this genre to have resonated so deeply with critics. The current Rotten Tomatoes score is a very fresh 87 per cent. It also continues Sony’s summer of seeing successes with original films that cost very little to make.

“This marks a string of very profitable hits for Sony with very modest budgets. The Shallows, Sausage Party and now Don’t Breathe were all incredibly profitable because they were made for modest budgets and did incredibly well at the box office,” Greenstein said.

It’s also the latest horror success for Hollywood this summer, which has seen films like Lights Out, The Conjuring 2, and The Purge: Election Year thrive while their bigger budget, spectacle-driven counterparts flailed. —AP