Michael Fassbender’s R-Rated Sci-Fi Thriller Officially Loses Box Office Momentum

While A24 has successfully elevated itself into the big leagues this year, thanks to the blockbuster success of the record-breaking horror movie Backrooms, other studios that still operate in the specialty market don't seem to be making the same progress. Focus Features had an outlier in Obsession, which made more than $500 million worldwide. However, Searchlight Pictures and Neon have yet to deliver a breakout hit this year. Searchlight has the upcoming Martin McDonagh Oscar contender Wild Horse Nine lined up, while Neon can take pride in having picked up its seventh Palme d'Or in a row. In fact, Neon delivered a breakout hit before A24, when Parasite shattered the glass ceiling and won the Best Picture Academy Award in 2020. It also became the biggest foreign-language title in domestic box-office history, with more than $50 million in the bank.

This year, Neon attempted to repeat the success of Parasite with another critically acclaimed genre movie directed by a South Korean auteur. The film premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, opened to positive reviews and grossed more than $35 million in its home country before debuting domestically in September. After about 20 days in theaters, the film appears to have plateaued, falling short of the $10 million mark and plummeting by 80% in its third weekend. It features Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander in rather interesting supporting roles, with the cast led by Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, and Jung Ho-yeon.