'Nosferatu' Isn't Clowning Around As It Passes 'Terrifier 3' at the Domestic Box Office

Director Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu has emerged as a late surprise for the year 2024. The movie opened in a crowded Christmas frame alongside a host of new titles, and was the clear over-performer. Not only did it register the biggest extended opening in the history of Focus Features, it also became the top-grossing film of Eggers’ career within the first few days of its release. And now, as it completes a week in theaters, Nosferatu has hit a major domestic box office milestone, and is set to become one of the top-grossing horror films of last year.

The film has passed the $50 million mark domestically, which only five horror movies were previously able to in 2024. Today, it’ll overtake Terrifier 3’s $53 million lifetime haul to become one of the top five horror movies of 2024, behind Smile 2 ($68 million), Longlegs ($74 million), Alien: Romulus ($105 million), and A Quiet Place: Day One ($138 million). As is apparent from this list, the year 2024 wasn’t the best for horror cinema. It’s a genre that has long been seen as lucrative, especially because horror movies don’t tend to cost much.

Nosferatu bucked the trends by earning an excellent $40 million in its extended debut. This is already the biggest haul of Eggers’ acclaimed career, ahead of the $34 million that The Northman concluded its domestic run with. His films have now generated a combined total of over $120 million domestically, and with Nosferatu primed to become his first release to pass the $100 million mark domestically, this figure is likely to increase. Produced on a reported budget of $50 million, Nosferatu is a remake of F.W. Murnau’s classic German Expressionist film from over a century ago, about a vampire who preys on a young woman and curses his town with a plague.

The movie opened to positive reviews, and appears to have settled at a “fresh” 85% approval rating on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. In his review, Collider’s Jeff Ewing described it as “a moody, stunning visual masterpiece,” and declared that “it's the best horror film of the year and easily one of 2024's best overall.” Starring Bill Skarsgård, Lily-Rose Depp, Willem Dafoe, Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin and others, Nosferatu is playing in theaters. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.