As writers, we rarely consider the marketplace. It seems like a job for the producers and agents shopping around projects and raising funds. However, it’s important for screenwriters to be aware of the potential marketplace for their screenplays. It may not be the most artistic pursuit to look at what sells and what flops, but if you want to receive funding your project, sometimes you need to bear the box office in mind.
My current project, Dawn of Man, is a satirical horror exploring cults and toxic masculinity. With that in mind, I’ve been looking at the state of the horror marketplace in recent years (especially horror films with a satirical or political slant) to see how viable and commercial the genre is. It goes without saying that 2020 is not a normal year for the box office; with Covid-19 all but wiping out cinemas in the UK and US, very few films have been able to gross high amounts. Instead, I have looked at films released pre-pandemic.
Get Out is easily the most commercially successful satirical horror in recent years (if not all time). Produced for under $5 mil, Get Out grossed over $250 mil worldwide, earning 50X its production budget . How was Jordan Peele’s film so successful? On a practical level, keeping its budget low meant it was almost guaranteed to be financially successful, which is a recurring theme with horror. However, Get Out was successful beyond anyone predicted. Not only was the film genuinely fantastic, earning rave reviews and academy awards, but it depicted characters and issues rarely seen in genre cinema. Horror centred around minority characters are so rarely given mainstream releases, meaning audiences who otherwise may not feel represented by the genre flocked out in droves to see the film (much like Black Panther did with the superhero genre). By offering characters and situations we don’t see enough in horror, Peele was able to create one of the most successful horror films ever made.
2019’s Ready or Not, a violent satire of class war directed by Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, was another box office smash. Like Get Out, the film had a low budget of just $6 mil and grossed over $50 mil. While the film poked fun at the upper classes, the satire and comedy was secondary to the horror. Marketed as a bloody thriller, Ready or Not used its genre to conceal its satirical elements, thus attracting a more typical horror audience. Satirical horror films that market themselves as satires over genre films tend to struggle more at the box office. 2020’s The Hunt, directed by Craig Zobel, struggled to make back its $20 mil budget. While the box office would have been affected by the initial effects of Covid-19, the poor reception to the film’s marketing and disappointing first weekend suggests it may have struggled to find a large audience in any other year.
When it comes to horror (and particularly satirical horror), the marketplace is strong and there is a large potential audience out there. Keeping budgets low, focusing primarily on horror with satire as a secondary element, and representing characters and issues not often seen in genre films are all good ways to attract an audience and earn large returns at the box office. This is an encouraging sign for my project, suggesting there is interest in horror projects with satirical and comedic elements.
–Harry Ford
Harry Ford - Comedian 