The Strangers: Chapter 3 and Dracula have both scared off a common horror movie curse at the box office.
The Strangers: Chapter 3, which was directed by Renny Harlin, the concluding chapter of Harlin’s new trilogy set in the universe of the Strangers movies, though it is the fifth installment overall. Dracula, which was directed by Luc Besson, is a new adaptation of the classic Bram Stoker novel of the same name starring Caleb Landry Jones in the title role. Both horror movies debuted on February 6.
Per Box Office Mojo, as of Sunday morning, The Strangers: Chapter 3 is projected to earn a 3-day total of $2.3 million by the end of its sophomore weekend at the domestic box office, landing at No. 11 on the weekend chart and dropping just 34.5% from its opening weekend. Meanwhile, Dracula’s projected 3-day total of $3 million sees it landing at No. 10 and dropping an even narrower 31.8%.
While neither of the 2026 horror movies is performing particularly impressively in terms of their raw numbers, both of their sophomore drops are nearly unprecedented for the horror genre, which tends to be frontloaded. Horror movies almost always have drops of more than 50%, often landing in the brutal 60% to 70% range.
In fact, while there is only one horror movie on Box Office Mojo’s chart of the 50 smallest week 2 drops of all time for titles that debuted in more than 2,000 theaters, there are six horror titles on the chart of the 50 biggest week 2 drops of all time.
Both movies have been able to accomplish this rare achievement simultaneously in spite of the fact that both earned splats on the review aggregation platform Rotten Tomatoes. While Dracula earned a mediocre 53%, The Strangers: Chapter 3 reviews more or less eviscerated the movie, earning it a dismal 18% score.
One possible reason for the two movies’ impressive week 2 drops is the fact that the Valentine’s Day holiday took place during their sophomore weekends. While the more romantically-themed options Wuthering Heights and Solo Mio performed much better over the weekend (taking No. 1 and No. 5 respectively), date night screenings could very well have provided both movies with a major boost.
It remains to be seen how The Strangers: Chapter 3 and Dracula perform in their third weekends, but if they continue to show a similar level of audience retention, they could ultimately become sleeper successes at the domestic box office (though the latter’s steep reported budget of roughly $52 million puts it at more of a disadvantage).
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Release Date
February 6, 2026
Runtime
91 Minutes
Director
Renny Harlin
Writers
Alan R. Cohen, Alan Freedland
Producers
Courtney Solomon, Alastair Burlingham, Mark Canton, Charlie Dombek, Christopher Milburn, Gary Raskin
Cast
Richard Brake
Sheriff Rotter
Release Date
February 6, 2026
Runtime
129 minutes
Director
Luc Besson
Writers
Luc Besson, Bram Stoker
Producers
Virginie Besson-Silla, Luc Besson