The First Major Horror Flop of 2026 Compounds Its Misery at the U.S. Box Office

1 week ago 19

Published Feb 2, 2026, 3:50 PM EST

In over three years at Collider, senior author Jake has now penned over 2500 articles covering a wide range of TV and film for the resources, lists, utilities, news, and interview teams. Alongside interviewing stars such as Selin Hizli, Rose Ayling-Ellis, Harlan Coben, and Chelsea Peretti, Jake was lucky enough to visit the set of Aardman and Netflix's Wallace and Gromit: A Vengeance Most Fowl in 2024, getting the chance to chat with four-time Academy Award winner Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham. Jake has also worked for other publications, including Agents of Fandom.

Although not garnering the sort of hype as other video game adaptations currently proving popular, there was still plenty of excitement for Return to Silent Hill, the third movie installment in the Silent Hill franchise. However, after making its debut on January 23, where there was once excitement, there was now huge disappointment for many in the fanbase. After finishing seventh in its opening weekend with a domestic haul of $3.2 million, Return to Silent Hill's second weekend saw it fall entirely out of the box office top ten.

Earning less than $1 million from 1,608 theaters nationwide, marking a stark drop of 70% in ticket sales compared to the previous weekend, these past three days have proven disastrous for Christophe Gans' horror flick. In fact, no other movie playing in at least 1,000 theaters scored a lower per-theater average, with Return to Silent Hill's a shocking $610. Given the film's 18% critics' score and 29% audience rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, perhaps this shouldn't come as a surprise. In Ross Bonaime's review of the movie for Collider, he called it "an ugly, laughable adaptation that proves that maybe we should’ve never gone back to Silent Hill."

The film's synopsis reads:

"Return to Silent Hill brings the iconic horror franchise back to the screen. When James receives a mysterious letter from his lost love Mary, he is drawn to Silent Hill—a once-familiar town now consumed by darkness. As he searches for her, James faces monstrous creatures and unravels a terrifying truth that will push him to the edge of his sanity."

It Was a Tale of Two Halves for Horror at the Weekend Box Office

Return to Silent Hill's poor weekend performance is no doubt thanks to the arrival of a pair of new horror movies that took the top two spots in the domestic ranks. Director Sam Raimi's return to the horror genre with Send Help and YouTuber Markiplier's directorial debut, Iron Lung, both earned over $17 million, with the former taking top spot. However, Return to Silent Hill wasn't the only horror movie to struggle last weekend, as theatergoers continue to turn their back on 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, despite the movie's incredible reception from audiences and critics.

Return to Silent Hill is available to watch in theaters nationwide. Make sure to stay tuned to Collider for the latest box office updates.