For arguably the first time in 2025, we have a new outright horror hit in theaters. Director Drew Hancock’s Companion, a new twisty, sci-fi thriller starring Sophie Thatcher (Yellowjackets, Heretic) opened strong at the box office this past weekend, pulling in an estimated $9.5 million domestically. That was right in line with expectations, which was certainly enough to turn this low-budget affair into a winner for Warner Bros.
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Companion headed into the weekend with tracking suggesting it would pull in between $8 and $10 million, so this is right in line with estimates. More importantly, WB managed to make this one for a mere $10 million (before marketing). When we factor in the $5.5 million it’s already pulled in from overseas, a $15 million start makes this one a hit. Not to lower one to raise the other, but it certainly fared better than Blumhouse’s Wolf Man. The werewolf picture dropped like a rock in its third weekend with just $1.1 million. It’s pretty much done, weaning it’s going to finish its global run with just over $30 million on a $25 million budget.
That movie faced rough reviews, which killed its chances of holding well after a rough opening weekend. On the flip side, Companion has received rave reviews thus far. Assuming it generates good word of mouth from moviegoers, it should be able to hold well in the coming weeks. It certainly doesn’t hurt that this one was produced by the folks who brought us Barbarian, namely director Zach Creeger, which helped give the film some street cred.
Companion follows a group of friends on a weekend getaway that turns bloody and violent when a subservient android that's built for human companionship goes haywire. The cast also includes Jack Quaid (The Boys), Lukas Gage (Smile 2), Megan Suri (Never Have I Ever) Harvey Guillen (What We Do in the Shadows).
It worked as spectacular counter-programming against the animated, family-friendly Dog Man. Produced by DreamWorks, this one overperformed with a $36 million domestic opening. It also pulled in $4.5 million overseas, giving it a $40.5 million start on a $40 million budget. But that was for the family crowd. Companion played for the horror crowd and faced little by way of competition, since last weekend’s newcomer Presence fell out of the top ten in its second frame with just $1.3 million.
The biggest challenge that Companion is facing in the coming weeks will be steeper competition in the genre space. Looking ahead, we’ve got Josh Ruben’s romantic slasher Heart Eyes hitting theaters this upcoming weekend, which has earned strong reviews out of the gate as well. After that, Marvel’s Captain America: Brave New World arrives before yet another horror monster debuts on February 21 in the form of Oz Perkins’ Stephen King adaptation The Monkey.
So yes, it’s going to be relatively tough sledding ahead but even if Companion drops hard in the coming weeks, this is the benefit of a small-budget, big studio picture. It’s already made enough money that VOD is going to work like an insurance policy. It’s going to make money, which will keep Warner Bros. in this business for the foreseeable future. That’s a win.
January was, overall, not just a somewhat tough month for horror but it was a rough one for the box office overall. There were no major, big new hits of any kind, with mostly December’s holdovers carrying the load. To that end, Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu is finally running out of gas, pulling in less than $1 million this past weekend. It has made $172.2 million worldwide, making it a home run for Focus Features. Hopefully, we’ll get a big breakout hit like that in February.
You can check out the full list of the top ten movies at the box office for the weekend of January 31, 2025, below. For more, check out Fango’s list of the new horror movies we’re looking forward to in 2025.
- Dog Man – $36 million (first weekend)
- Companion – $9.5 million (first weekend)
- Mufasa: The Lion King – $6.1 million (seventh weekend)
- One of Them Days – $6 million (third weekend)
- Flight Risk – $5.6 million (second weekend)
- Sonic the Hedgehog 3 – $3.2 million (seventh weekend)
- Moana 2 – $2.8 million (tenth weekend)
- A Complete Unknown – $2.1 million (sixth weekend)
- The Brutalist – $1.8 million (seventh weekend)
- Den of Thieves 2: Pantera – $1.6 million (fourth weekend)
