Now, Paramount Pictures, who is the distributor this time instead of Neon, has confirmed that the new Longlegs movie will be released in theaters on January 14, 2028. While January can be a difficult time for movies at the box office, this release date falls on the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, and as of this writing, the only competition is an untitled Disney film.
Previously, Paramount has found success at the box office with movies released during the long MLK weekend. This includes domestic opening totals of $33.1 million for 2022's Scream, $33.6 million for 2024's Mean Girls, and $46.1 million for 2008's Cloverfield, the last of which is the studio's record holder for this weekend. Scream and Cloverfield also set a precedent for horror movies to perform well during this window.
While it has been established as a movie that expands the Longlegs universe without being a direct sequel, all plot details are under wraps. Cage is reprising his terrifying role and is a producer, while Perkins is directing, writing, and producing the project. Other producers attached to the film include Brian Kavanaugh Jones, Chris Ferguson, and Dave Caplan.
Along with being an overwhelmingly successful commercial hit, the original movie was well-received by critics, earning a "Certified Fresh" 85% score on Rotten Tomatoes. In ScreenRant's Longlegs review, Graeme Guttmann gives the movie seven out of 10 stars and describes it as "unnerving and atmospheric, and ultimately, surprisingly sorrowful." The Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 61% is not as strong, but did not get in the way of the record-breaking box office.
As for whether the upcoming movie can live up to its predecessor, it is important to note that the circumstances surrounding the two are quite different. The original Longlegs was more of an unknown quantity, made on a small budget, and coming from an independent film company. It had a great deal of hype before its wide theatrical release, as word of mouth spread about how uniquely scary the movie was.
The next film is coming from Paramount, one of the world's biggest studios, is a more known quantity, and is part of a cinematic horror universe. Whether these factors ultimately help or hurt Cage and Perkins' new Longlegs remains to be seen, but the release date is promising. This could change if the untitled Disney film ends up belonging to a particularly popular IP or franchise, but even then, a Disney property is generally targeting a different audience than an R-rated horror movie.
Release Date
July 12, 2024
Runtime
101 Minutes
English (US) ·