© Warner Bros.
Despite distribution from a major studio like Warner Brothers, the upcoming film The Apparition is -- according to Box Office Mojo and The Numbers -- opening this Friday on only 800 screens. That figure is only about a third of what you'd expect from a major-studio genre release -- WB's Chernobyl Diaries, for instance, openend in May on over 2,400 screens -- so you have to wonder if the studio doesn't have much confidence in the movie. After all, it was previously bumped almost a full year from its original September 2011 release date. Warner Brothers may also be a bit horror-leery, given Chernobyl Diaries didn't do much at the box office and the $80 million domestic gross by Dark Shadows (which opened in a whopping 3,755 theaters) has been underwhelming by summer blockbuster standards. We'll see how it works out for the studio -- at least there isn't much competition opening this weekend -- but hopefully this isn't the start of a horror downsizing trend.
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