Can Jordan Peele's "Him" seal horror's record year?
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Marlon Wayans in promotional art for the movie "Him." Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures
The horror genre is creeping towards a record-setting year at the box office, and a new Jordan Peele-produced movie could push it over the top.
Why it matters: The success of movies like "Sinners" and "Weapons" has cemented horror as one of the most bankable movie genres of the past decade.
Driving the news: "Him," the horror film from Peele's Monkeypaw Productions, opens Friday.
- Peele's company has produced some of the genre's biggest hits in recent years, including "Get Out," "Us," "Candyman" and "Nope."
By the numbers: Horror films have collectively grossed just around $1.12 billion domestically so far in 2025, according to numbers media tracking site Comscore provided to Axios.
- That total is quickly approaching the record of $1.16 billion set in 2017, a year that featured blockbusters like "It" ($327 million domestically), Peele's "Get Out" ($176 million), and "Split" ($138 million).
The big picture: This banner year for scary movies is led by "Sinners."
- The film, starring Michael B. Jordan, has grossed more than $278 million domestically, making it the 10th most successful R-rated movie of all time.
Zoom out: Movies like "Final Destination: Bloodlines," "28 Years Later," "Weapons" and "The Conjuring: Last Rites" followed suit as box office successes.
- There have been more than 40 horror movies released so far this year, with buzzworthy films "The Strangers: Chapter 2," "Frankenstein," "Black Phone 2" and "Five Nights at Freddy's 2" still to come.
What they're saying: Paul Dergarabedian, a senior Comscore analyst, tells Axios the perception of horror films has changed over the past decade.
- "What they deliver in terms of quality and being an experiential part of going to the movies has improved," he says.
- "It's definitely become a go-to genre and it doesn't require a ton of money to make them scary as hell."
Between the lines: To Dergarabedian's point, "Weapons," a movie produced for less than $40 million (per Variety), has grossed nearly $150 million domestically since early August.
- "Final Destination: Bloodlines," released in May, grossed nearly $140 million against a $50 million budget.
The other side: Compare that to this year's highest-grossing film domestically, "A Minecraft Movie," which cost three times as much to make.
The bottom line: "Hollywood has really cracked the code on horror, particularly over the last 10 years or so," says Dergarabedian.
