“Weapons” debut helps horror creep toward a record share of the US box office

In previous years, even some of the highest-grossing horror movies have struggled to garner critical acclaim, with the genre often seeing large disparities between audience- and critic-powered scores on film review site Rotten Tomatoes.

But “Barbarian” director Zach Cregger’s new horror mystery, “Weapons,” was already making headlines for setting and equaling records on both of those metrics, having debuted at a perfect 100% critical rating on the site — before it opened to an impressive $42.5 million at the US box office over the weekend.

Indeed, “Weapons” is just the latest flick to help boost the horror genre to a potentially record-breaking 2025. The share of ticket sales for horror movies at the US box office is at an all-time high of 14.4% so far this year, up from 9.8% last year, per data from The Numbers.

On the fright track

Following the mammoth success of “Sinners,” which, per ScreenRant, has become the highest-grossing original movie of the 2020s, as well as sequel installments like “28 Years Later” and “Final Destination Bloodlines,” it’s already been a huge year for horror heading into the second half of 2025.

Taking artistic license with the ‘made to frighten’ format appears to be paying off, too. In 2021, the full year where the genre notched its highest market share in the US, horror was dominated by franchise follow-ups like “Halloween” and “A Quiet Place.” Now, it seems adrenaline-thirsty audiences are eager for original stories like “Weapons.”

While industry bods warned of a “horror glut” at the outset of the summer — with Variety counting a total of 29 wide-release horror films across seven major studios slated for 2025 — six horror movies released this year have already accrued more than $50 million each at the worldwide box office, according to The Numbers, suggesting that the appetite for big scares on big screens is still there.