After a disappointing few years, the vampire sub-genre of horror is at a crossroads with three high-profile movies on the horizon in Nosferatu, Salem’s Lot, and Sinners. Vampire movies have evolved over the years, ranging from the gothic horror of Bela Lugosi’s Dracula, to the fantasy romance of Twilight. In recent years, there have been a slew of satirical vampire projects, including highly-rated TV shows What We Do in the Shadows and Reginald the Vampire alongside several comedy-horror movies as well.
However, many of the most prominently-featured movies of the last few years have been major disappointments, either with critics, at the box office, or both. That could signal a major shift in how the best vampire movies are positioned, and what type of audience they are targeted towards. Vampires are so ingrained in the global culture that the horror sub-genre will never go away completely, but a major shift in strategy may be necessary. Fortunately, the three big vampire movies coming out in the next six months represent a departure from the recent norm.
The Next Six Months Can Make Vampires Scary Again
The Three High-Profile Upcoming Movies Restore Vampires To Their Horror Roots
After several years of satire at the forefront, the three big vampire movies set to release in the next six months can truly bring terror back to the vampire sub-genre. Up first is the Salem’s Lot remake, which will stream exclusively on Max on October 3rd, 2024. Many horror fans consider Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot to be among his most terrifying novels, and the original 1979 film adaptation is considered a horror classic. The trailer for the 2024 Salem’s Lot proves that it will be dialing up the horror elements of King’s original work.
Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu is a remake of the 1922 silent film of the same name by F.W. Murnau. The original Nosferatu was based loosely off Bram Stoker’s original Dracula novel from 1893, and it’s considered to be one of the foundational movies in not just the vampire sub-genre, but in all of horror. Eggers’ filmography is short, but each of his movies has been dripping with dread; with a rich baseline of source material to work off of and scream king Bill Skårsgard in the role of Count Orlok, that trend is sure to continue.
The trailer for Sinners provided a look at the only completely original high-profile vampire movie to hit theaters in the near future. The original screenplay from director Ryan Coogler looks poised to pit Michael B. Jordan against vampires that borrow from the lore of the American South, with heavy African and voodoo influences. It’s Ryan Coogler’s first foray into horror, but it’s clear that the vampires are not to be taken lightly. Each of the three big movies will treat vampires as the blood-sucking terrors that they have been depicted as in traditional lore across the globe.
How Recent Vampire Movies Have Failed At The Box Office
Low Quality And Poor Word-Of-Mouth Have Spelled Doom
While there are many high-quality vampire movies loved by horror fans over the decades since Nosferatu first landed, the last few years have yielded more big-budget disappointments than hits. In just the last two years, The Last Voyage of the Demeter, Renfield, and Abigail have all been box office misses, and while Abigail received positive reviews from critics and moviegoers, the other two were resounding critical failures. Each movie was based in part on the original Dracula story, and had significant star power attached to it.
Recent High-Profile Vampire Movies | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Movie | Budget | Box Office Gross | RT Tomatometer Score | RT Popcornmeter Score |
Renfield | $65 million | $26.9 million | 58% | 79% |
The Last Voyage of the Demeter | $45 million | $21.8 million | 50% | 75% |
Abigail | $28 million | $42.4 million | 83% | 85% |
Abigail was certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and technically the only movie to come close to being profitable; a movie typically needs to at least double its budget to be considered a success, which it obviously didn’t do. Interestingly, each of the three movies achieved a RT Popcornmeter Score higher than 75%. The Popcornmeter Score is an indicator of what fans think of a movie as opposed to critics, so it appears those that did in fact see the movies appreciated them. That could be a sign of how significant the appetite for vampire movies is, which bodes well.
What The Outlook For Salem’s Lot, Nosferatu, And Sinners Is
There Is Reason For Optimism For All Three
All three of the upcoming vampire movies have solid potential for success by any metric. Sinners appears to have the highest box office potential, as the combination of Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan has been box office gold in the past. Michael B. Jordan is the biggest star appearing in any of the three movies, and Ryan Coogler has legitimate box office appeal on his own. Add in the fact that it’s a completely original screenplay with a highly original plot and setting, and Sinners could be a true box office smash in addition to a critical hit.
All Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan Director/Actor Collaborations | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Movie | Release Date | Budget | Box Office Gross | RT Tomatometer Score | RT Popcornmeter Score |
Fruitvale Station | 2013 | $900K | $17.1 million | 94% | 87% |
Creed | 2015 | $40 million | $173.6 million | 95% | 89% |
Black Panther | 2018 | $200 million | $1.35 billion | 96% | 79% |
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever | 2022 | $225 million | $859.2 million | 84% | 94% |
Nosferatu, on the other hand, may follow the trend of Eggers’ most recent movies in being a critical success, but missing the mark at the box office. Each of Eggers’ four feature films has achieved 90% or better on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer, and it’s a near-guarantee that Nosferatu will be of similar quality given Eggers’ attention to period detail and transcendent direction. Salem’s Lot has a great chance at streaming success, as it may find a much larger audience on Max than it would have in the theaters.
What’s The Future Of Vampire Movies Beyond Salem’s Lot, Nosferatu, And Sinners?
It May Depend On How They Perform
The future of vampire movies may come down to how these three big movies perform at the box office. If Sinners and Nosferatu can find their way to legitimate profitability, it could inspire studios to continue putting effort behind bigger-budget vampire movies. The same goes for Salem’s Lot; if it’s a streaming hit, that could open up the door for more high-quality vampire projects to find a home on streaming platforms.
While the creative minds of Hollywood (and beyond) will no doubt keep looking for alternative ways to tell stories using the familiar vampire tropes, the success of three straightforward, scary vampire stories could encourage future projects to move in that direction/
The tone of future vampire movies may also be dependent on the performance of those three movies. While the creative minds of Hollywood (and beyond) will no doubt keep looking for alternative ways to tell stories using the familiar vampire tropes, the success of three straightforward, scary vampire stories could encourage future projects to move in that direction. Sinners in particular could be a difference-maker to the genre given its unusual horror setting and what projects to be heavy metaphorical content.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes
