Summary
Tarothas more than quintupled its budget and become one of the highest-grossing horror movies of the year. The new movie, which was based on Nicholas Adams' 1992 novelHorrorscope, stars Harriet Slater, Adain Bradley, Avantika, Olwen Fouéré, and Jacob Batalon and follows a group of friends who are hunted by supernatural monsters after having their horoscopes read using a cursed tarot deck. Overwhelmingly negativeTarotreviewshave landed it a 19% score on Rotten Tomatoes, but that didn’t prevent the movie from nearly tripling its budget in its first 10 days at the box office.
PerBox Office Mojo,Tarothasearned $45.4 million worldwide ahead of its seventh weekend in theatersdespite being available on VOD as of May 28. This means the movie has earned five and a half times its $8 million budget. On top of that, it has become the fourth highest-grossing horror movie of 2024, outgrossing prominent titles including Blumhouse’s twisted childhood movieImaginary($39.1 million), Renny Harlin’s franchise rebootThe Strangers: Chapter 1($39.2 million), and Radio Silence’s ballerina vampire outingAbigail($42 million).
How Big A Hit Tarot Is Compared To Other 2024 Horror Releases
Tarot’s Small Budget Has Helped It Succeed
TheTarotreleasehas so far only been outdone in 2024 by three titles, namelythe prequelThe First Omen, the Blumhouse haunted pool movieNight Swim, and the South Korean supernatural titleExhuma(which performed extraordinarily well internationally despite only running in limited theaters for one week in North America). However, a movie’s break-even point is usually at least twice its production budget, so its low budget makes it competitive even among those ranks. See a full breakdown of the performance of 2024’s Top 5 horror movies below:
$97.1 million
$15 million
$30 million
$54.1 million
360%
$60 million
$53.7 million
179%
$8 million
$16 million
$45.4 million
567%
$28 million
$56 million
$42.1 million
150%
Ultimately, theTarotmoviehad the best return on investment of the four titles for which budget information is available. Two of them likely didn’t break even due to their larger budgets, including one that outgrossed the $8 million title on the chart. Additionally, one element that those estimated break-even points don’t cover is the cost of marketing. While other titles on the chart were more blockbuster-oriented and had more robust publicity campaigns,Tarot’s marketing was likely substantially less costlyand its success came more from word of mouth, helping it succeed financially in that arena.
2 New Horror Movies Prove An Exciting Box Office Trend Is Critic-Proof
The shared box office success of Tarot and The Strangers: Chapter 1 says something surprising about the horror genre’s future with audiences.
It seems certain thatTarotwill slip lower down the chart of 2024 horror releases as the year wears on. There are other major horror releases set to come to theaters that are attached to prominent franchises and filmmakers and will likely outgross it, includingA Quiet Place: Day One,Alien: Romulus, andSmile 2. However, despite the horoscope-inspired shocker probably being knocked from the Top 5, it seems improbable that any other title will become such a singular hit in terms of its budget and success in the face of such a critical drubbing.
Tarot
Cast
The plot centers on a group of college friends who start dying in ways that are related to their fortunes after having their tarot cards read. Before their time runs out, they have to work together to uncover the mystery.
