Original horror is back atop the box office. This time, it’s Host and The Boogeyman director Rob Savage and his latest, the Jesssica Chastain-led Other Mommy, taking the number one spot as spooky season begins to ramp up in a big way. It joins the likes of Curry Barker’s Obsession and Sam Raimi’s Send Help as an example of an original genre flick doing big business in 2026.
See also: THE BOOGEYMAN Director Rob Savage Wants To Traumatize A New Generation
Over the weekend, Other Mommy opened to an estimated $27.5 million, easily enough to top the charts. It prevailed over last weekend’s champion Verity, which dropped hard in its second frame, pulling in $11.4 million in the number two spot. That represents a 64% drop for the erotic thriller. More importantly, Universal and Blumhouse’s latest horror flick also pulled in $17.6 million overseas, giving it a $45.1 million global start.
Against a reported production budget of $19 million, that’s a great start for a non-franchise movie of any kind these days. Though, there is a bit of an asterisk on this one.
Savage’s psychological horror affair, despite having an Oscar-winning actress in the lead role, was, well, savaged by critics and audiences alike. It’s earned poor reviews and is generating poor word of mouth from viewers. Writing for Fango, Todd Gilchrest called it a “promising idea with wildly uneven execution.” So, it’s probably going to drop like a rock in weekend two. Even so, it’s already positioned to turn a profit in light of its very strong debut.
The movie centers on a young girl named Bela who forms a relationship with a sinister entity in her home who looks uncannily like her own mother. The cast also includes Jay Duplass, Arabella Olivia Clark, Dichen Lachman, Arian Moayed and Karen Allen.
For Blumhouse/Atomic Monster, it’s another big win after a rough, uneven 2025. Movies like Drop, The Woman in the Yard and, most importantly, M3GAN 2.0, fell way short of expectations. Black Phone 2 and Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 helped save the latter half of the year, but Blumhouse is known for being able to turn original ideas into hits. That’s why Other Mommy is a key win for the house that Jason Blum built, despite the poor reception.
Would it be nice if a movie with better reviews that audiences seemed to like more were sitting pretty atop the box office? Of course, that’s what was so nice about Obsession and Backrooms. But it’s not like horror movies haven’t suffered lackluster reviews in the past only to go on and become a cult favorite or earn the “so bad it’s good” seal of approval. How time judges Other Mommy, ultimately, remains to be seen but in the here and now, a win is a win.
Looking ahead, the Austin Abrams gets swallowed by a whale movie Whalefall arrives alongside Street Fighter. Then to help get audiences in the spirit of the Halloween season, DC’s R-rated body horror movie Clayface arrives on October 23.
Other Mommy is in theaters now.
