Late Night with the Devil, one of the most talked about horror movies of the year, hit movie theaters on March 22, 2024. The film is led by David Dastmalchian (Prisoners, The Dark Knight) and follows a fictional late-night talk show host from the 1970s who decides to invite a supposedly possessed girl onto his program for a Halloween special in a bid to increase ratings. However, things soon go awfully wrong and evil is subsequently unleashed into the nation’s living rooms.
The movie was originally set to be a Shudder exclusive, but was granted an initial cinematic release. As the film drew in positive reviews, word of mouth started to spread. This led to a successful opening weekend and placed the movie into its very own unique box office category.
Late Night with the Devil Made $666,666 in its Opening Weekend
While the found footage style of horror movie has somewhat died out in recent years, Late Night with the Devil feels like a movie that will bring the sub-genre back into pop culture. Typically, movies that are set for a streaming release tend to not fare too well at the box office as many moviegoers choose to wait a little longer and enjoy the movie from the comfort of their homes. However, Late Night with the Devil opened rather strong, coming in sixth place at the box office, earning a total of $2.8 million.
Where word of mouth for the movie began to spread further was when the box office figures for Sunday March 24 were released. In a twist of fate that sounds too bizarre to be true, Late Night with the Devil made $666,666 on this day. As is pretty much common knowledge, 666 has long been known as the sign of the devil. While many thought this was a publicity stunt initially, it has been revealed that these spooky numbers were totally accurate.
Unveiling the Critical Reception of the Trending Horror Movie
Not only has Late Night with the Devil exceeded expectations at the box office, reviews have also been overwhelmingly positive for the trending horror flick. To that, a plethora of critics have praised the film’s production design, acting, and nuanced dark, which revitalises the found footage and possession horror genres. Furthermore, horror legend Stephen King took to his official X page to laude the movie, saying “It’s absolutely brilliant. I couldn’t take my eyes off it. Your results may vary, as they say, but I urge you to watch it when you can.” As of the time of writing, Late Night with the Devil has a 96% Tomatometer with an 83% audience score.
Analysing the Box Office Competition of Late Night with the Devil
As mentioned, Late Night with the Devil summoned $2.8 million across 1043 screens in the US on its opening weekend. Currently, the five movies above it in total gross are Arthur the King, which had a weekend gross of $4.3 million. In fourth place is Immaculate, with a weekend gross of $5.3 million. In third place is Kung Fu Panda 4, hauling in $17 million on the same weekend as Late Night with the Devil’s opening. In second place is Dune: Part Two, which raked in an impressive $18 million on the weekend ending March 24. Lastly, gleaming in first place is the long-awaited Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, which brought in a weekend gross of $45 million.
When Can You Watch ‘Late Night with the Devil’ at Home?
Before it lands on Shudder, Late Night with the Devil will be granted a few more weeks in movie theaters. Once this streak ends, the movie will be available to watch with a Shudder subscription on April 19, 2024. As the film is exclusive to Shudder, this will be the only place to watch the movie once its theatrical run has ended.
Will There Be a Sequel?
Late Night with the Devil was written and directed by Australian filmmakers Cameron Cairnes and Colin Cairnes. The duo burst into the industry in 2012 with their debut horror comedy, 100 Bloody Acres, winning them the prestigious Midnight X-treme award at Sitges. Since then, they have written directed a number of independent films and TV series. However, Late Night with the Devil is undoubtedly about to serve as their breakthrough movie, which will likely lead to offers of big budget studio movies. As of yet, there is no talks of a sequel. Yet, we can’t rule this out, as the possibility will most certainly be determined on the success of the film when it officially lands on Shudder. Until then, here’s 5 other horror movies to look out for in 2024.
Check out the official trailer for Late Night with the Devil:
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