Jordan Peele's "Us" debuts with massive box office opening

© Universal Pictures

Jordan Peele’s latest horror film “Us” is taking the box office to new heights with his critically acclaimed horror scoring big in opening previews.

Thursday night box office previews accumulated $7.4 million in ticket sales, a new high for the director after the successful launch of “Get Out” 2 years ago. In fact, earnings were over $5 million on his previous film, and estimates suggest it could even reach $50 million by the weekend.

Thanks to rave reviews at SXSW, and added hype for the film ahead of its release, “Us” could deliver an impressive box office performance for a feature that only has a reported $20 million budget. To put this into perspective, “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” grossed $55 million in its opening weekend, and has an estimated production budget of $129 million, and appeals to a much larger family audience. Two very different films, but for an R rated horror genre film, the numbers for “Us” are spectacular.

Opening in 3700 theaters this weekend, there’s a good chance the film could exceed the total debut of “Get Out” which managed to gross $33 million in its first weekend. It's conceivable the film might even go beyond “How to Train Your Dragon” if current estimates are revised up.

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