Ready or Not 2 Box Office Projections Are Surprisingly Strong
The box office projections for the horror sequel Ready or Not 2: Here I Come look like they could beat the original film’s performance. 2019’s Ready or Not, directed by Matt Mettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, was a surprise success both critically and financially. It starred Samara Weaving as a young bride who has to fight back against her spouse’s family who wants to use her in a Devil-worshipping ritual on her wedding night. The film earned $57 million at the box office, which might not sound like much but is fantastic relative to its $6 million budget. Ready or Not 2, which is slated to release on Friday, March 20, is looking like it will at least match those numbers, despite the competition in the theatrical calendar and lower review scores than the original’s.
Ready or Not sequel could beat the first film at the box office
The latest predictions for Ready or Not 2 at the domestic box office have it earning about $10 million (between $8.5 million and $13.5 million) in its 3-day opening weekend and $24 million (between $21 million and $35 million) overall by the end of its run. By comparison, the original film received only $8 million in its domestic opener, though it did eventually accumulate $28.7 million in North America and Canada, so this sequel is hoping for an equally successful run.
These projections come from a March 13 report from analytical site BoxOfficeTheory, but these are lower than what was originally predicted. Back in mid-February, the site believed that the film, distributed by Searchlight Pictures and Disney, would get $12 million ($10 million to $15 million) in its opener and $30 million ($20 million to $40 million) overall. Meanwhile, BoxOffice Pro is less confident in the movie’s success, narrowing its projections to a range of $6 million to $9 million for its opener.
While the production budget for Ready or Not 2 is not yet known, Variety reported that the directors shot the film in only 30 days, only four more than the shoot for the original movie. This should place the budget closer to the $6 million mark, but even if it’s a couple of million dollars higher than that, it will only take about $20 million for the sequel to break even. That should be an easy goal for the film to surpass, especially if it’s able to earn a high amount of sales at the international box office.
Analysts are encouraged by the bloody sequel featuring a more star-studded cast, with the additions of Sarah Michelle Gellar, Elijah Wood, and Kathryn Newton. The film has been placed three weeks after the release of Scream 7, so direct competition from other horror films shouldn’t be as intense as it would be otherwise.
That said, the sequel still has to contend with other horror movies releasing throughout March 2026, like The Bride, They Will Kill You, Undertone, and the 25th anniversary release of The Mummy Returns. It should be noted that Project Hail Mary, which comes out on the same day as the Ready or Not 2, will be taking up much of the oxygen with its $42 million to $60 million projection for its domestic opening weekend.
Then about a month later on April 17, Lee Cronin’s The Mummy will be front and center as the must-see horror movie, which could be why the Ready or Not 2 has strong opening numbers but not as confident projections overall in the domestic market. In fact, the film moved its release date from April 10 to March 20, likely to avoid Lee Cronin’s The Mummy as much as possible.
As of March 18, the sequel has a critic’s score of 79% (based on 52 reviews) on Rotten Tomatoes, which is lower than the 89% of the original film. (ComingSoon’s Jonathan Sim gave the movie a solid 8 out of 10 in his review.) While that could impact the word-of-mouth for the movie, it shouldn’t be by much.
Source: Comingsoon.net