BATTLE AT THE BOX OFFICE:  HORROR FRANCHISE CHAMPS OF ALL TIME

Almost as great as my love for watching horror films is my fascination with how well they perform at the box office; domestic (so for me, that’s North America), international, and the combined worldwide grosses are of equal, endless interest.

Degrees of commercial success can vary from one territory to another, even more so when the focus of that comparison expands beyond the box office performance of an original movie to that of its resulting franchise; which has had me wondering for a while now, when it comes to horror franchises what is the current box office champ of all-time?  Something predictable, or unexpected?

With horror fans being the most loyal of movie audiences, the impressive number of franchises both past and present, is an unsurprising statistic.  But for the purposes of my champ-crowning quest, I compiled a list of 20 qualifying horror franchises to compete, each among the TOP 15 of all time at the domestic, international, and/or worldwide box office.  And by “all time” I mean “at this time”, and specifically May 15, 2023, because a lot of these franchises are still alive and kicking! 

Below you’ll find that list of 20 contenders, including the release date of the original, as well as the number of movies I believe each franchise consists of.  And a gentle reminder that horror comes in MANY shapes and sizes (ie. sub-genres), which is very much reflected in the list. 

And immediately following the list of contenders, the TOP 15 HORROR FRANCHISES OF ALL TIME at the domestic, international, and worldwide box office are revealed.

Which horror franchise do YOU think is the current box office champ of all-time?  And which is YOUR favorite?

THE CONTENDERS

 (LISTED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

*Number of qualifying films:  8

*Includes Freddy vs. Jason

*Excludes A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) remake

Release date of first film:  November 9, 1984

A QUIET PLACE

Number of qualifying films:  2

Release date of first film:  April 6, 2018

ALIEN

*Number of qualifying films:  9

*Includes Director’s Cut, Alien vs. Predator, and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem

Release date of first film:  May 25, 1979

ANNABELLE

Number of qualifying films:  3 

Release date of first film:  October 3, 2014

BLADE

Number of qualifying films:  3 

Release date of first film:  August 21, 1998

FINAL DESTINATION

Number of qualifying films:  5

Release date of first film:  March 17, 2000

FRIDAY THE 13^TH

*Number of qualifying films:  11

*Includes Freddy vs. Jason

*Excludes Friday the 13^th (2009) remake

Release date of first film:  May 9, 1980

HALLOWEEN

*Number of qualifying films:  11

*Includes Halloween III:  Season of the Witch

*Excludes Rob Zombie’s Halloween remakes (2)

Release date of first film:  October 25, 1978

INSIDIOUS

Number of qualifying films:  4

Release date of first film:  April 1, 2011

IT

Number of qualifying films:  2 

Release date of first film:  September 8, 2017

JAWS

Number of qualifying films:  4

Release date of first film:  June 20, 1975

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY

Number of qualifying films:  6

Release date of first film:  September 25, 2009

PREDATOR

*Number of qualifying films:  6

*Includes Alien vs. Predator, and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem

Release date of first film:  June 12, 1987

RESIDENT EVIL

Number of qualifying films:  6

Release date of first film:  March 15, 2002

SAW

Number of qualifying films:  9

Release date of first film:  October 29, 2004

SCREAM

Number of qualifying films:  6

Release date of first film:  December 20, 1996

THE CONJURING

Number of qualifying films:  3

Release date of first film:  July 19, 2013

THE EXORCIST

*Number of qualifying films:  7

*Includes Director’s Cut, and Extended Director’s Cut

Release date of first film:  December 26, 1973

THE PURGE

Number of qualifying films:  5

Release date of first film:  June 7, 2013

THE RING

Number of qualifying films:  3

Release date of first film:  October 18, 2002

THE FRANCHISE CHAMPS

(THRU MAY 15, 2023)

NORTH AMERICAN BOX OFFICE (U.S. DOLLARS)

1. ALIEN – $593,148,322
2. IT – $540,422,102
3. HALLOWEEN – $532,281,673
4. SCREAM – $521,536,861
5. SAW – $477,999,086
6. JAWS – $413, 905,140
7. PARANORMAL ACTIVITY – $401,348,020
8. A QUIET PLACE – $348,096,622
9. THE EXORCIST – $331,927,091
10. THE PURGE – $329,677,280
11. FRIDAY THE 13^TH – $317,744,054
12. PREDATOR – $315,509,654
13. A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET – $307,540,010
14. THE CONJURING – $305,501,199
15. RESIDENT EVIL – $271,274,006

INTERNATIONAL BOX OFFICE (U.S. DOLLARS)

1. RESIDENT EVIL – $961,401,423
2. IT – $634,467,570
3. ALIEN – $632,759,364
4. THE CONJURING – $540,817,317
5. SAW – $539,708,451
6. ANNABELLE – $534,297,531
7. PARANORMAL ACTIVITY – $489,160,399
8. FINAL DESTINATION – $403,310,722
9. PREDATOR – $370,388,524
10. SCREAM – $319,572,017
11. A QUIET PLACE – $290,215,000
12. INSIDIOUS – $284,786,342
13. THE RING – $263,273,372
14. BLADE – $213,229,554
15. THE PURGE – $204,218,099

WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE (U.S. DOLLARS)

1. RESIDENT EVIL – $1,232,675,429
2. ALIEN – $1,225,907,686
3. IT – $1,174,889,672
4. SAW – $1,017,707,537
5. PARANORMAL ACTIVITY – $890,508,419
6. THE CONJURING – $846,318,506
7. SCREAM   – $841,108,878
8. ANNABELLE – $794,816,136
9. HALLOWEEN – $715,610,743
10. PREDATOR – $685,898,178
11. FINAL DESTINATION – $666,766,477
12. A QUIET PLACE – $638,311,622
13. INSIDIOUS – $542,345,827
14. THE PURGE – $533,895,397
15. THE RING – $496,425,772

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