Horror is one of the most popular (yet somehow underappreciated) genres of film. It attracts dedicated fans who will see just about any movie that the genre produces. Whether it’s a psychological mind-bender or a campy slasher, horror fans will flock to the theaters for the next horror movie to be released.
With its dedicated fan base and relatively less expensive budgets, horror is one of the most profitable genres in the industry. Even if a horror movie does not earn excessive revenue the way big-budget blockbusters do, it is fairly easy for a horror film to turn a profit.
The horror genre is a gold mine for long-running franchises, which makes scoring big at the box office even more likely. Nevertheless, even some of the most popular franchises, such as Final Destination or Halloween, have never cracked the $1 billion milestone.
The Scream franchise has come close to $1 billion at over $900 million in total revenue, but it still doesn’t quite hit the mark. The Paranormal Activity movies have also come close. Surprisingly, only five horror franchises have grossed over $1 billion to date.
It is more than likely that other franchises, such as Scream, will eventually cross over the $1 billion mark with future releases. Nonetheless, it still stands that only five horror franchises have ever celebrated this enormous achievement. Which five franchises have hit that huge milestone? Thanks to data from Box Office Mojo and IMDB, we have the answers for you.
5 The Saw Franchise (2004 – Present)
The introduction to the twisted games of John Kramer, a.k.a. Jigsaw, started in a dirty bathroom back in 2004 with James Wans’ Saw. When Adam (Leigh Whannell) and Dr. Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) woke up chained to pipes with nothing but a hacksaw at their disposal and a dead body lying on the floor between them, it started a phenomenon.
Since then, the Saw franchise has exploded in popularity and is still pumping out movies nearly 20 years after the original film. Fans keep coming back for more of the notorious serial killer’s inventive traps and mind games. With the success of 2023’s Saw X, it has already been confirmed that the next installment of the franchise, Saw XI, has been greenlit and will be released in September 2024.
Box Office Earnings
The tenth movie in the series earned $111 million worldwide, bringing the franchise’s total earnings to $1.13 billion globally. This makes Saw the fifth highest-grossing horror franchise of all time. Saw III still holds the record for the highest-grossing film in the series at $164.8 million worldwide, but the immense success of the tenth film is what shattered the glass ceiling for the long-running franchise.
4 The It Franchise (2017 – 2019)
With just two films in its catalog (leaving the TV series out), the It franchise has made significantly more than most horror films on its own. The two-part adaptation of Stephen King’s novel of the same name is wildly popular among both genre fans and casual fans as well.
The combination of Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise and the talented group of child actors portraying the kids who the demented clown terrorizes has made the series enjoyable for all types of movie fans. An upcoming prequel series, Welcome to Derry, was announced in 2023, and is set to air in 2025 on HBO Max.
Box Office Earnings
It was made on a $35 million budget and earned a whopping $704 million worldwide. Meanwhile, It: Chapter Two was made for $79 million, more than double the first film’s budget, and grossed over $473 million globally.
The sequel is one of the most expensive horror movies ever made, and it is rare to see horror films gross numbers like that individually. The franchise has earned $1.17 billion at the worldwide box office, making it the fourth highest-grossing horror franchise ever.
3 The Resident Evil Franchise (2002 – Present)
The incredibly popular action-horror series Resident Evil has been consistently churning out movies and other media since 2002. The Milla Jovovich-led zombie saga is the film adaptation of the popular Japanese video game of the same name.
The franchise sees Jovovich’s Alice battle armies of the undead in the fictional Raccoon City after a zombie outbreak is started by the Umbrella Corporation. In the 20+ years the franchise has been running, more video games have been released, as well as graphic novels and books.
Box Office Earnings
Despite mostly negative reviews from critics, the franchise continues to make heaps of money. Including both the live-action movies and the animated movies, the franchise has grossed $1.24 billion at the worldwide box office in the over 20 years it has been around.
Much of that revenue is credited to the six movies Jovovich starred in from 2002-2017. Still, even after her exit, when the franchise decided to start in a different direction with Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, the series continues to rake in money. It is the third highest-grossing horror franchise overall.
Rent Resident Evil on Prime Video
2 The Alien Franchise (1979 – Present)
The beloved sci-fi horror franchise, Alien, started back in 1979 with director Ridley Scott’s original masterpiece depicting a group of scientists in space who encounter a deadly lifeform aboard their spacecraft. Acclaimed directors such as James Cameron and David Fincher have also directed films in the eight-movie series, and stars such as Sigourney Weaver, Michael Fassbender, and Winona Ryder have been involved in various films.
The franchise has garnered such a huge fanbase that it has spawned video games, television series, comic books and novels, in addition to the eight feature films. In response to the decades-long success of the films, the franchise even developed a crossover series with the Predator films, creating the Alien vs. Predator series. An upcoming prequel series is slated to be released by FX and Hulu and will be overseen by Fargo’s Noah Hawley.
Box Office Earnings
Including both of the Alien vs. Predator movies, the Alien franchise has grossed $1.65 billion across the globe. The highest-grossing film in the series is Prometheus, which saw the return of Ridley Scott to direct the prequel entry. It earned over $126.4 million at the worldwide box office.
Alien vs. Predator is the highest-grossing of those two films, with over $80 million in total revenue, although the second-highest-grossing film in the entire franchise is Aliens, with over $85 million in total revenue. The combined earnings of the films make Alien the second highest-grossing horror franchise of all time.
1 The Conjuring Universe (2013 – Present)
Nearly ten years after reinventing the horror genre with Saw, Australian director James Wan once again disrupted the horror community with The Conjuring. The supernatural possession film couldn’t be more different than the low-budget psychological horror thriller he first directed, but it affected horror fans just as greatly. Anyone who was old enough to see R-rated horror films at the time remembers the absolute panic that this film caused across the nation.
It was soon labeled one of the scariest movies of all time, and movie theaters were putting up warning signs to let people know just how scary it was. The film contains little profanity, no sex, brief instances of alcohol consumption, and mostly bloodless violence, yet it was given an R-rating. This was solely due to the immense scare factor.
Since the first film, the franchise has expanded into The Conjuring Universe, complete with eight movies, an upcoming untitled television show from HBO, and a fourth installment of the original films, titled The Conjuring: Last Rites, which is intended to be a finale to the Conjuring films.
Both the Annabelle and The Nun films are part of this universe, alongside the three Conjuring films. The horror films The Wolf at the Door and The Curse of La Llorona both feature minor characters from two of The Conjuring Universe movies, although they are not considered part of the universe.
Box Office Earnings
The Conjuring broke box office records during its opening weekend in 2013, grossing a total of $41 million. It is the third highest-grossing opening weekend for an R-rated horror film after Paranormal Activity 3 and Hannibal.
The first film ended up grossing over $320 million worldwide, starting the franchise’s major financial success. The Conjuring Universe has far surpassed $1 billion worldwide, instead achieving an astounding $2.4 billion at the global box office. To date, it is the only horror franchise to ever cross over $2 billion at the box office, making it the highest-grossing horror franchise of all time — by a longshot.
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