From ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ to ‘Imaginary’: The rise of PG-13 horror
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Horror films have long been among the most reliable profit centers for Hollywood studios, even as other categories of film — like rom-coms, raunchy comedies and even superhero flicks — cycle through ups and downs. Within that ever prolific heading is a subset of titles that have shown themselves to be a dependable way to get younger audiences to the local multiplex: the PG-13 horror movie.
This weekend, Blumhouse Productions releases its latest effort, “Imaginary,” which follows a woman whose young stepdaughter befriends a creepy stuffed bear named Chauncey. Lionsgate is distributing the film, which is expected to open with about $10 million to $12 million at the domestic box office on an estimated production budget of $10 million, according to people who’ve reviewed pre-release audience surveys. That would be comparable to “Night Swim,” which opened to $11.8 million in January.
It’s the latest spooky PG-13 Blumhouse pic, following the success of “Five Nights at Freddy’s” ($291 million in global box office sales) and “M3gan” ($180 million). Both were distributed by Universal Pictures.
Blumhouse sees an opportunity to expand the market for the horror genre as the company itself grows through its merger with James Wan’s Atomic Monster. The Los Angeles-based producer is trying to make movies that young people can watch with other family members. The idea is that if the pictures work, they’ll hit not just with Gen Z, but with their parents and siblings as well.
Backing up this point, in a recent Blumhouse-commissioned survey of self-identified horror fans, 70% of Gen Z respondents reported watching horror movies with their moms while 65% have watched them with their fathers. Including other generations, 60% of survey participants said they’d watched with Mom, versus 49% with Dad, 44% with a sister and 39% with a brother. Sixty-nine percent said they consider watching horror movies a family bonding activity.
“You wouldn’t think of these as ‘family movies,’ but the audience can be a family audience for these and that’s how something like ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ can gross almost $300 million at the box office,” Blumhouse President Abhijay Prakash told The Wide Shot. “When you have that PG-13 rating, it opens up the opportunity for parents, siblings and the child to all go, and that really came across in the data in a big way.”
PG-13 horror movies are not a recent phenomenon, of course, despite the broader genre’s reputation for luridness and exploitation earned by ‘80s slasher movies. Joe Dante’s horror-comedy “Gremlins,” rated PG, helped originate the PG-13 rating in 1984 after parents complained it was inappropriate for smaller children.
Since then, films including “The Ring” and “A Quiet Place” have repeatedly reinforced the fact that studios can deliver genuine scares without pushing into hard-R-rated territory (though to this day, movies designed to scare the younger set raise questions about whether the Motion Picture Association is too lenient when it comes to violence and frightening imagery).
And teens have long been a key demographic for the genre, regardless of the MPA designation. Think of how many movies became cult classics thanks in large part to the slumber party audience. Plus, horror is typically inexpensive to produce, making profitability easier to achieve.
Not every movie is going to hit the mark. “Lisa Frankenstein,” a horror-comedy from Focus Features, hasn’t exactly sent folks rushing to the cinema. And there’s still a big audience for far edgier material, as A24 demonstrated last year with its Australian chiller “Talk to Me.” But we can surely expect to see more PG-13 frights in the coming years, especially with these movies becoming family affairs in some cases.