Can Other Mommy Be The Next Obsession Or Backrooms At The Box Office?

Universal Pictures

It's officially spooky season. With Halloween just around the corner, we're about to get a month full of horror movies to help get moviegoers into the spirit of the season. One of the first big ones out of the gate is "Other Mommy." Director Rob Savage made a horror movie called "Host" during the pandemic lockdown and it became a word-of-mouth sensation. Now, a handful of years later, he's got a big buzzy horror movie from Universal Pictures starring Oscar-winner Jessica Chastain ("The Eyes of Tammy Faye"). So, can this be the year's next breakout horror hit like "Obsession" or "Backrooms" before it?

As of this writing, "Other Mommy" is looking to open between $28.5 and $35 million when it arrives next weekend, per Box Office Theory. Given that Blumhouse and Atomic Monster, the producers behind the picture, don't generally spend big, it's fair to assume that's a great opening for something in the budget range they generally operate in. Whether or not that's enough to make it an "Obsession"-level hit is another question entirely.

"Obsession" passed the $500 million milestone at the box office, which only five horror movies have ever done. It opened with a solid $17.1 million but legged out, becoming one of the most unexpected blockbuster hits in modern cinema history. On the flip side, A24's "Backrooms" ruled the box office with an $81.4 million opening, en route to $400 million worldwide. Wildly different scenarios, both gigantic hits.

For the moment, it looks like "Other Mommy" is going to fall somewhere between those two juggernauts on opening weekend. In all likelihood, it's going to play more like "$28 Years Later" ($30 million opening/$151 million worldwide), which is nothing to sneeze at.

Universal Pictures

The movie centers on Bela (Arabella Olivia Clark), who forms a relationship with a sinister entity in her home who looks uncannily like her own mother. Aside from Jessica Chastain, the cast also includes Jay Duplass ("Industry") and Dichen Lachman ("Severance").

Even on the low end, "Other Mommy" should be a solid hit. However, it does have the makings of a possible leggy breakout hit. If word-of-mouth is good, Rob Savage is a filmmaker with a lot in common with "Obsession" helmer Curry Barker and "Backrooms" filmmaker Kane Parsons. They all came up on the internet and are making non-franchise horror movies that audiences are rallying around. Savage also has a good track record already.

"The Boogeyman" became a box office horror hit while you weren't watching, with Savage's Stephen King adaptation legging out surprisingly well in 2023, pulling in $82 million worldwide. Not bad for a movie that was originally going to be dumped straight to Hulu. Let's also not forget that audiences love seeing Chastain in this genre. Yes, she's got huge hits like "The Martian" and "Interstellar" to her name, but horror has been kind to her.

Even though "It: Chapter Two" had to live in the shadow of its predecessor, the Stephen King sequel was a huge hit, taking in $473 million globally. It remains one of the highest-grossing hits the genre has ever produced. Chastain was a big part of that. She also has "Mama" and "Crimson Peak" on her resume.

All of this to say, this movie has all of the markings of a big October hit. Audiences are hungry for these sorts of movies this time of year, and if it delivers the goods, it could rake it in right through Halloween.

"Other Mommy" hits theaters on October 9, 2026.