Despite finishing in second place at the domestic box office in its opening weekend of release, the independent horror thriller filmLonglegsgenerated more publicity than did the weekend’s top film, the animated blockbusterDespicable Me 4. Fueled by a creative digital-based marketing campaign, which gradually built anticipation and momentum forLonglegsover the course of six months, the film, which had a combined marketing and production cost of less than $20 million,caught Hollywood completely by surprise.
Directed and written by Osgood Perkins, the son ofPsychostar Anthony Perkins,Longlegsstars Maika Monroe as Lee Harker, a clairvoyant FBI agent who is assigned to track down an occultist serial killer, known as Longlegs, who has murdered various families across the United States without seemingly being physically present at the crime scenes. Lee discovers that she has a sinister personal connection to the killer, played by Nicolas Cage.
With an opening weekend gross of approximately $22.4 million,Longlegs, which had the best opening of any original horror film in the past year,became one of only 15 independent films in the past decade to open above $20 million. This opening also set a record for the film’s distributor, Neon, which had its biggest previous opening, at $5.3 million, with theSydney Sweeney horror filmImmaculate.
Moreover, whileLonglegs, which grossed approximately $11.7 million in its second weekend of release and has a current worldwide gross of nearly $47 million, is poised to become one of the most profitable films of 2024, it is also set to become one of the most influential horror films in recent history, in terms of changing how horror films are made and marketed in the future.
Longlegs is a horror thriller film by writer-director Osgood Perkins. When FBI agent Lee Harker is assigned to a serial killer cold case, their investigation leads them down a rabbit hole riddled with disturbing discoveries and the occult at the center of it all. When the trail of evidence reveals a personal connection, it becomes a race against time to prevent another murder.
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The completelyinventive and unconventional marketing campaignforLonglegswas launched by distributor Neon in January 2024, when Neon released the first of a series of creepy teaser trailers, most notably one that highlights star Maika Monroe’s rising heartbeat as she witnesses Nicolas Cage’s horrific transformation into the film’s titular killer. The trailers madeLonglegsseem dangerous, real, unsettling, and, above all, unique without mentioning the movie by name.
Perhaps the most innovative aspect of the marketing campaign was how Neon handledCage’s presence in the film. While any conventional marketing campaign would have almost certainly revolved around the appearance of an Academy Award-winning star like Cage,Neon made the bold decision to increase anticipation for the film by hiding Cagefrom the film’s marketing campaign, in terms of withholding clear images of his nightmarish villain.
The Genius Behind Nicolas Cage’s Appearance in Longlegs, Explained
Discover how Longlegs' brilliant marketing campaign left Nicolas Cage out as the villain and how it worked anyway.
WhileLonglegswas boosted by generallyexcellent critical reviews, the slow-burn marketing campaign, which bypassed television ads in favor of digital content, that Neon executed not only intrigued audiences but alsostarted a viral horror movement. This is especially impressive given that less than $10 million was spent on the marketing campaign.
Ultimately, the film’s marketing campaignis a testament to the importance of building relationships and trust with horror audiences and crafting a marketing campaign that clearly reflects the viewing experience. WithLonglegs, this means a crazy ride that delivers to audiences something they’ve never seen before.
Longlegs Is the Ultimate Summer Blockbuster Counterprogramming
In a summer largely dominated by blockbusters and children’s films,led byDespicable Me 4andInside Out 2,Longlegsserves as stark counterprogrammingand has emerged as the summer’s biggest surprise. It is the first independent film in a long time to achieve success within the summer blockbuster season.
The success ofLonglegshas had a revitalizing effect on independent cinema and especially the horror genre, which had, except for the recent release ofA Quiet Place: Day One, been inan extended slump, as evidenced by the lackluster receptions for the 2024 horror filmsAbigail,The First Omen,Imaginary, andNight Swim.
Longlegs Has a Lot in Common With This TV Cult Favorite
Forget The Silence of the Lambs. Longlegs feels most reminiscent of one of the best mystery TV shows of all time.
WhileLonglegshas already outperformed these films at the box office, it has also proved that by keeping marketing and production costs low and successfully executing a targeted marketing strategy, horror films, more than any other genre,can generate profit margins that far eclipse those of their big-budget counterparts.
Longlegsdebuted alongside the romantic comedy filmFly Me to the Moon, which had a production cost of more than $100 million. However, despite the seemingly commercially appealing pairing of stars Channing Tatum and Scarlett Johansson,Fly Me to the Moongrossed less than $10 million at the box office in its opening weekend of release, far belowLonglegs, and has becomea massive flop, especially in terms of its cost.
Longlegs Has Been Compared to The Blair Witch Project
With its surprising box-office success and viral marketing campaign,Longlegshas been compared to the groundbreaking1999 supernatural horrorfilmThe Blair Witch Project, which was released almost exactly 25 years beforeLonglegs. While it will likely fall far short of equaling the commercial success ofThe Blair Witch Project, which grossed nearly $250 million at the worldwide box office,Longlegsis one of the few independent horror films sinceThe Blair Witch Projectto surpass expectations so completely that Hollywood is left baffled, as if the movieappeared out of nowhere.
WhileThe Blair Witch Projectlaunchedfound-footage horrorinto the public consciousness, the impact ofLonglegswill be tested not just with a potential sequel or spinoff but also in terms of how successfully other horror films can emulate the film by employing a similarly unconventional marketing campaign. ForLonglegsdirector Osgood Perkins and distributor Neon, this will be proven with the release of their next collaboration, thesupernatural horror filmThe Monkey, which is currently scheduled to be released by Neon on July 16, 2025.Longlegsis in theaters now.
