'Us' Likely To Scare Up A $40 Million-Plus Opening Weekend At The Box Office

Early box office projections for Jordan Peele's Us are in, and the horror film appears to be headed towards a $40+ million opening weekend if all goes well. That's not exactly mega blockbuster territory, but it's not bad, either. As is the case with most films out of the Blumhouse horror movie factory, Us had a relatively meager budget, which all but guarantee's it'll be a hit. On top of that, those early projections could increase after the film premieres at SXSW next week. If the buzz out of the festival is overwhelmingly positive, it could help hype the Us box office even higher.

According to several outlets, including Deadline and ForbesUs box office tracking has it headed towards an opening weekend somewhere between $35 million -$40 million, and maybe even a little higher. This will put it above Jordan Peele's last horror film, Get Out, which earned $33.3 million. Word of mouth helped Get Out grow, and it eventually went on to win Peele an Oscar.

Why isn't Us tracking even higher? It could be the mysterious marketing. While the trailers give the basic premise away, there's still so much we don't know about the film. This differs a bit from Get Out, which mostly laid out its concept in its trailers, give or take a big twist or two. Audiences may not know quite what to make of Us yet, and that may be hindering it from an even bigger opening weekend.

But there's a very good chance that's about that change. Before the film officially opens, it will have its worldwide debut at SXSW on March 8, 2019. As Forbes points out: "John Krasinski's A Quiet Place overindexed to the tune of $50m after rave reviews and a scorching SXSW premiere." If word out of SXSW is strong, it's going to help Us at the box office. And the film could do even better following it's opening weekend if the general public starts buzzing about it. This is all speculation, of course. And as is the case with all early box office tracking, this is subject to change. In any case, I couldn't be more excited for Us. I personally love how mysterious the trailers have been, because I can just tell Peele has something big up his sleeve.

Us opens everywhere March 22, 2019.

Accompanied by her husband, son and daughter, Adelaide Wilson returns to the beachfront home where she grew up as a child. Haunted by a traumatic experience from the past, Adelaide grows increasingly concerned that something bad is going to happen to her family. Her worst fears soon become a reality when four masked strangers descend upon the house, forcing the Wilsons into a fight for survival. When the masks come off, each stranger takes the appearance of a different family member.