Box Office: Amid Sinners' triumph, take a look at the top horror movies set to hit theaters this year

After the massive success of Sinners, it’s clear that there’s still a huge appetite for horror when it’s done right. The Ryan Coogler-directed and Michael B. Jordan-starring thriller has been one of this year’s biggest box office performers, standing tall alongside A Minecraft Movie and Captain America: Brave New World. But beyond this breakout, it’s been a mixed year for the genre, and studios could be headed toward oversaturation.

Sony’s Until Dawn, a horror film currently in theaters, is struggling despite its association with the popular video game. With just USD 8 million domestically and an additional USD 10 million overseas, the USD 15 million project may not be a flop, but it suggests that even recognizable IPs are no longer a guaranteed win in today’s crowded horror market.

The bigger issue facing studios: 2025 is loaded with scary movies. Universal alone has seven titles on its slate, up from five in 2024. Combined with Sony, Warner Bros., and Neon, the genre has 23 entries set for release this year. That's nearly double from the previous year. While horror has long been a reliable genre due to lower production costs and high returns, the market now risks cannibalizing itself.

So far, Sinners is the only film in the genre to break into the top 10 openings of 2025, following the two aforementioned tentpoles. Other titles like Neon’s The Monkey and Sony’s Heart Eyes performed respectably with USD 40 million and USD 30 million, but failed to generate significant buzz. Blumhouse offerings such as The Woman in the Yard, Drop, and Wolf Man also failed to amaze.

Still, several upcoming horror films could turn the tide. Sony’s 28 Years Later, a high-profile continuation of the 28 Days Later franchise, opens on June 20 with Danny Boyle at the helm. The film is poised to draw major interest, especially following the conclusion of HBO’s The Last of Us Season 2.

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Other anticipated releases include franchise revivals like The Conjuring, The Final Destination, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and Anaconda. Indie horror darlings Zach Cregger and the Philippou brothers have Weapons and Bring Her Back set for release, respectively.

Closing the year strong could be Universal’s Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, the sequel to 2023’s USD 300 million hit.

Studios and exhibitors have the good headache of better spacing the releases this year—or else they may find themselves haunted by the very genre they’re relying on.

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