How much Weapons needs to make at the box office to break even

Weapons has had another amazing weekend at the box office, but how much does the new horror movie need to make to break even? Let’s just say the numbers are worthy of a seven-hotdog party. 

Following a Longlegs-esque marketing campaign, Weapons has quickly proven to be one of the best horror movies of 2025, telling the story of a classroom of children who wake up at 2.17am, run out into the darkness, and never come back. 

The new movie is inspired by multiple incidents in director Zach Cregger’s life, but he leaves many of the lingering questions open to interpretation. This, coupled with the fact that Weapons is genuinely creepy, has made it a word-of-mouth success story. 

But has this translated in terms of sales? Here’s everything you need to know about its box office performance and how much it needs to make for Warner Bros. 

How much Weapons needs to make to break even

The production budget for Weapons is reported as approximately $38 million, meaning it needs to make around $95 million to break even. Anything on top of that is profit. 

If you’re wondering where these estimates come from, the rule of thumb is that new movies need to make around 2.5 times their original budget to break even due to the additional costs such as fees to exhibitors, merchandising, and taxes. 

The $38 million sum is the estimated production budget, meaning there are also marketing costs to consider, as well as the fact that studios only keep about 50-60% of box office revenue (and even less from international markets). 

The question remains: has Weapons managed to meet or exceed this figure?

Weapons box office performance

Warner Bros.

In short, yes. Following its second weekend, Weapons has made $89 million from North American sales, bringing its global box office haul to more than $148.7 million – and it’s still got plenty of time left of its theatrical run. 

During its opening weekend, Weapons made $42.5 million domestically and $27.5 million internationally, resulting in a global debut of $70 million. Unlike recent blockbusters, the new movie didn’t suffer an extreme dropoff in its sophomore week. 

It experienced a decline of 43%, which sounds like a lot but is actually impressive for a horror film. Plus, it only dropped by 33% in international markets. 

Chances are Weapons will stick to a usual theatrical run of between 30 to 45 days, meaning it’s still got plenty of time to keep bringing in profit. 

How it compares to other 2025 horror movies 

Sony

While we can’t truly compare until Weapons finishes in cinemas and heads to streaming, we can still look at how much other 2025 horror movies performed after their second weekend: 

• Sinners – ​ $161.6 million globally against a $90 million production budget
• Final Destination: Bloodlines – $187 million globally against a $50 million production budget
• 28 Years Later – $103 million globally against a $60 million production budget

As of August 18, 2025, Sinners has made $365.8 million, Final Destination: Bloodlines has made $285.3 million, and 28 Years Later has made $150.3 million globally. Given Weapons is still in its early stages, we can expect its total haul to climb in the coming weeks. 

If you’ve already watched it, check out our breakdown of the Weapons ending. You can also read about a potential Gladys prequel, where and when it might drop on streaming, and whether it’s demonic.