Amityville: The Awakeninghas a prettygreat cast for a horror sequel. Bella Thorne,Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jennifer Morrison, and Cameron Monaghan headline the thriller. It was directed by Franck Khalfoun from his own screenplay and produced by TWC’s Dimension alongside Blumhouse, who seldom experience this kind of flop, and have two of the most profitable movies of 2017 withGet OutandSplit.
TheAmityvillefranchise is based on a real-life incident revolving around ahaunted house. The first movie arrived in 1979, based on the 1974 haunting in Amityville, N.Y. The original house was the site of a grisly murder, with Ronald DeFeo Jr. shooting all six members of his family. The first movie is based on Jay Anson’s bookThe Amityville Horror, which tracked a family who moves into the murder house, only to experience paranormal activity in one of the country’s most notorious haunting cases.
The first entry in theAmityville Horrorseries was a huge hit, and became a cultural phenomenon. The movie grossed $86 million, which made it quite the blockbuster back in 1979. A number of sequels were released, but none of them could ever quite capture the magic of the original. MGM remade the movie in 2005 with Ryan Reynolds in the lead. It earned a decent $108 million world wide.
That looks quite stellar next to the new movie’s paltry take of $742. The story follows a teenager, played by Bella Thorne, who moves with her mother into the notorious house, unaware of itshaunted history. The family soon finds itself being terrorized by a demonic entity.
Amityville: The Awakeningwas supposed to resurrect the franchise. And it had been given anumber of various release datesover the past couple of years. It wasn’t until September 21, just two weeks before The Weinstein scandal broke, that TCW announced the sequel/reboot would be streamed for free exclusively on Google Play from October 12 to November 8, while also getting a limited theatrical release.
The Weinstein Company refused to comment on the poor box office take forAmityville: The Awakeningwhen asked byVariety. It’s unlikely that another Amityville movie will move into production anytime soon.
