Freddy vs. Jason? The Highest Grossing Horror Movies 2023
2023 was a complex year in world cinema, and in the opinion of the writer of these lines, it was not the most successful year in terms of the quality of the films either. If you are looking for a reason for encouragement in any case, it is related to the general revenues from motion pictures worldwide, which managed to surpass 2022 (and many thanks, among other things, to Barbie). On the positive side, the worldwide movie grossings are up by nearly a third compared to 2022, which was weak by all accounts. On the other hand, it still has about 15% lower profits than the three years before the Covid-19 crisis (2017-2019). This year has shown that not only do movies have a ceiling, but also a floor: there have been some glorious failures that in the past could be almost bet on to be blockbusters, like some of Marvel’s comic book movies.
But what about horror movies? 2023 could have been a better year when you look at the quality of the films, and didn’t reach the heights of 2022. Of course, we saw the well-known mix of sequels, sequels, prequels, etc., adaptations of familiar texts (such as “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” which we will come to later), and some – not enough – truly original films.
The following article will show you what is the highest grossing horror movie of 2023. We will presend the ten most profitable horror films in the United States and Canada, and compare it to the stats that comes from all over the globe. And there is even a different first place in each of them: Freddy Pazbear and his gang from “Five Nights at Freddy’s” against Jason Statham and his fight against the megalodon sharks. So who will win?
How Did We Decide What Is The Highest Grossing Horror Movies Of 2023?
Before we begin, there are a few important notes to keep in mind. The data we will be presenting is based on actual box office details from trusted sources such as Box Office Mojo. Additionally, we will be including estimated budget information for each film, which is an important aspect of the story. We found that most horror movies have an average budget of a few tens of millions of dollars, but there are also higher budget films that sometimes result in massive failure.
They do not consider the income from streaming movies, broadcasting rights, digital purchases, and the like, which are an integral part of the picture today. When films reach the viewing platforms at the latest a few months after the screening in the cinema, and in most cases even a few weeks or even at the same time, it is clear that there is a significant impact on the grossings from the cinemas.
Freddy On Top: What Is The Highest Grossing Horror Movies 2023 In The US?
We start the review with the United States and Canada. This year, we saw many familiar characters coming to the big screen, such as the movie “Barbie,” which was the most profitable on the continent (more than 636 million dollars), and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which raked in almost 575 million dollars. Then there were some more “serious” films, which received positive reviews and many awards, such as the Oscar winner “Oppenheimer,” and next to them impressively successful sequels, such as “Spider-Man: The Spider Dimension,” “Guardians of the Galaxy 3”, “John Wick” 4″ and the like.
To find the highest-grossing horror film on the list, we have to go down to the 19th place (!), where we see “Five Nights at Freddy’s” – the most successful horror film in the American market in 2023, with grossings of about 137 million dollars. In second place, you will find the sixth film in the “Scream” franchise, with approximately 108 million dollars.
Although “Megan” (“M3gan”) was produced in 2022, it only hit the screens on January 6, 2023, so we decided to include it in this list, and it takes third place with about 95 million dollars. This is a hugh success for a 12 million dollars film, and maybe part of it may be due the fact that the film – Including one specific scene of the Megan dance – smashed the social media.
We are continuing our list of highest-grossing horror movies 2023 with “The Nun 2”. The first film of 2018 is the highest-grossing in “The Conjuring” cinematic universe, which, as you should know by now, is the highest-grossing horror franchise ever made (and still counting). The sequel of “The Nun” earned less than the first (about $269 million, compared to about $366 million for the first film) and is ranked fourth among the grossing horror films of 2023. Still, it’s pretty good.
In fifth place is the film with the most inflated budget on this list, and it is “Meg 2: The Trench”. The bombastic shark movie starring Jason Statham had a budget of about 129 million dollars, plus a marketing budget that, according to some estimates, is close to 100 million dollars! It grossed only about 82.6 million dollars in the United States (in the rest of the world, it was much more successful, as we will see soon).
Next, you will find another sequel, “Insidious: The Red Door,” with approximately 82 million dollars in grossing. The film, the fifth in the horror franchise chronology, is also the leader when you look at its grossings.
The top ten also includes the excellent “Evil Dead Rise” (approx. $67 million), the disappointing “The Exorcist: Believer” (approx. $65.5 million), the acclaimed “Saw X” (approx. $53 million), and fabolous Australian horror film “Talk to Me” With about 48 million dollars. This sum is very impressive considering the fact that it is a low-budget, with just 4.5 millions dollars budget, and no familier actors.
The Complete List: Highest Grossing Horror Movie 2023 In USA and Canada
| # | Movie | Budget | US Gross |
| 1 | Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023) |
$20,000,000 | $137,275,620 |
| 2 | Scream 6 (2023) | $35,000,000 | $108,161,389 |
| 3 | M3gan (2022) | $12,000,000 | $95,159,005 |
| 4 | The Nun 2 (2023) | $38,500,000 | $86,267,073 |
| 5 | Meg 2: The Trench (2023) |
$129,000,000 | $82,600,317 |
| 6 | Insidious: The Red Door (2023) |
$16,000,000 | $82,156,962 |
| 7 | Evil Dead Rise (2023) | $19,000,000 | $67,233,054 |
| 8 | The Exorcist: Believer (2023) |
$30,000,000 | $65,537,395 |
| 9 | Saw X (2023) | $13,000,000 | $53,607,898 |
| 10 | Talk to Me (2023) | $4,500,000 | $48,299,436 |
Thanks To Asia: Meg 2: The Trench Is The Highest Grossing Horror Movie Of 2023 Worldwide
Our next step is to see which horror films have grossed the most worldwide and, above all, to see if there are any significant differences from the American market. The general answer is that most of the list tends to be similar, but there are some changes – including some fascinating ones. The highest-grossing horror film worldwide in 2023 is “Meg 2: The Trench”, which, as you recall, was only ranked fifth on the list of successful films in the United States. The main reason is that the film is aimed mainly at the Asian market, especially the Chinese: about 80% of its revenues are outside the United States. Worldwide, the film has grossed more than $315 million, for a total of $397 million.
In second place is “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” which grossed over 291 million dollars worldwide. The Nun 2, in third place, is another example of a film that did much better outside the United States. He added to his coffers more than 183 million dollars from funds around the world, about 68% of his income, for a total of about 269.5 million dollars.
We continue to “Insidious: The Red Door” in fourth place, with profits of approximately 189 million dollars worldwide. “Megan” ranks fifth, with roughly $181 million worldwide revenue. “Scream 6” earned less than 61 million dollars in the other parts of the world (about 36% of its overall grossings), and it comes in sixth place with about 169 million dollars.
The top ten is completed by “Evil Dead Rise” (about $147 million), “The Exorcist: Believer” (about $136 million) and two films that did not enter the top ten in the United States: the detective film “A Haunteing in Venice” based on Agatha Christie story (about -$122 million) and Disney’s bombastic “Haunted Mansion” based on a Disneyland facility (about $117.5 million), which earned less than its budget about $150 million. The fact that he joined the Disney Plus platform quite quickly explains some of the data, but there is no doubt that this is one of the biggest box office disappointments of the year, maybe even an absolute failure.
By the way, the Japanese monster movie “Godzilla Minus One” (almost 115 million dollars) is in 11th place, which wasn’t enough to get it into this list of highest grossing horror movies 2023. On next year’s list, we will undoubtedly find the current worldwide blockbuster, “Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire,” which has so far grossed over 400 million dollars across the globe in one of the highest places.
The Complete List: Highest Grossing Horror Movies 2023 Worldwide
| # | Movie | Budget | US Gross |
| 1 | Meg 2: The Trench (2023) | $129,000,000 | $397,700,317 |
| 2 | Five Nights at Freddy’s (2023( | $20,000,000 | $291,493,620 |
| 3 | The Nun 2 (2023) | $38,500,000 | $269,467,073 |
| 4 | Insidious: The Red Door (2023) | $16,000,000 | $189,086,877 |
| 5 | M3gan (2022) | $12,000,000 | $180,089,109 |
| 6 | Scream 6 (2023) | $35,000,000 | $168,961,389 |
| 7 | Evil Dead Rise (2023) | $19,000,000 | $147,033,054 |
| 8 | The Exorcist: Believer (2023) | $30,000,000 | $136,281,783 |
| 9 | A Haunting in Venice (2023) | $70,000,000 | $122,290,456 |
| 10 | Haunted Mansion (2023) | $150,000,000 | $117,449,790 |
