Quietly, one of the biggest box-office success stories last weekend was a continuation of an almost 19-year-old, 10-film-long horror franchise.

Saw X, which sees series antagonist Jigsaw (played by Tobin Bell) travel to Mexico for a risky medical procedure, earned $18.3 million in North American ticket sales. That's not terribly impressive on paper, but coupled with its $11.3 million in international receipts, Saw X performed well enough to recoup its widely reported $13 million production budget, along with its prints and advertising cost, in its first weekend, while landing in the second-to-top spot at this weekend's domestic box office.

Revenue from subsequent TVOD, SVOD and FAST windows will further incentivize studio distributor Lionsgate to narratively ensure tormenter Jigsaw’s survival from his cancer scare, and commission Australian filmmakers Australian filmmakers James Wan and Leigh Whannell to shoot Saw XI.

Indeed, as we're shown every October in an era when the domestic box office remains in steep secular decline, the horror genre is as enduring as Jigsaw.  

The annual theatrical “screamfest” will continue this coming weekend with the premiere of Exorcist: Believer, the first Exorcist film made by Universal Pictures and prolific and acclaimed horror producer Jason Blum following a $400 million deal for rights to shoot three new series installments. 

With Blum calling it the riskiest move of his career, the buzz entering Exorcist: Believer's first weekend isn't great, with Rotten Tomatoes aggregating the film at 22%, so who knows if the risky gambit will pay off for Universal and parent company Comcast. 

But even outside the pre-Halloween release window, horror franchises have continue to deliver predictably solid performances at the domestic box office without the need of movie-critic sanctioning. 

Consider that Warner Bros.’s The Nun II just grossed $233.6 million worldwide globally in September, while leading the domestic box office for three consecutive weekends, with an aggregated reviews score of 52%.

In July, the latest installment of yet another Blumhouse horror franchise Insidious — which was also originally created by Saw impressario Whannell — also led the weekend domestic box office. Insidious: The Red Door went on to gross $188.6 million globally with critics aggregation of only 38%. 

And in March, the premiere of Paramount's Scream VI led North American theaters with $113.6 million in receipts on the way to a global haul of nearly $169 million. 

Mathias Clasen, director of the Recreational Fear Lab and associate professor at Aarhus University in Denmark, believes horror's endurance ties directly to the emotional engagement of the audience. 

“Horror appeals to us because it simulates dangers that humans have evolved to attend to,” Clasen wrote her 2017 book Why Horror Seduces. “The idea here is that evolution has wired our reward system to activate in response to experiences that allow us to learn threatening information.” 

In short, scary movies cater to our hardwired, primal fears — sharp teeth, long claws and murderous men.

According to a 2019 study published by Margie Kerr, author of Scream: Chilling Adventures in the Science of Fear, our bodies release hormones when scared by things like horror films. “When you look at the brain of someone who is screaming, it looks very similar to someone who just watched somebody scream … Horror movies do allow us to connect with these different types of characters, and in doing so, think about who we are.”

And it works in favor of the traditional theatrical release window that people — particularly those age 18-34 — like to experience these films in groups rather than alone on the couch watching Netflix. 

“Where else can you be with hundreds of strangers in a room all having the same exact experience?” Marc Weinstock, Paramount’s worldwide marketing and distribution president, said in an interview with CNN last year. “You’re not distracted, you’re just sitting there and you have no idea what’s going to happen next. You can only experience in a theater.”

Horror is especially popular among young people, with a study by Movio revealing that the genre’s audience skews 11% younger than the film industry average. Considering the Global Cinema Advertising Association’s findings that more than half of movie theater visits come from the 14-to-35-year-old demographic, capturing a young audience is critical to the industry’s success.

 The WWE will tag team with Iconic Events Releasing to distribute the pro wrestling outfit’s Aug. 21 SummerSlam pay-per-view event to select movie theaters.

The annual wrestling event will be showcased live in hundreds of theaters around the country, according to WWE. The event, which will be held in Las Vegas in front of a full capacity crowd, will also be streamed on Peacock and made available through traditional pay-per-view providers.

Read Also: WWE Network Content Available on Peacock on March 18

Last year’s SummerSlam was held in the WWE’s Florida-based ThunderDome without live fans. 

“Iconic has a stellar track record of bringing people together to experience live events in a unique manner,” WWE SVP Global Strategy & Business Development Melody Yam said in a statement. “We’re excited to partner with their team to deliver to the WWE Universe a new way to watch our biggest event of the summer live on the big screen.” 

Added Iconic CEO Steve Bunnell: “SummerSlam is a marquee event that demands to be seen on the big screen, with big sound, in an auditorium full of excited fans.”

Warner Bros. is the latest movie studio to alter movie distribution windows as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, announcing Tuesday that it will move up the digital release of Just Mercy to March 19 from March 24.

The movie, which stars Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx, will be available to digital retailers on March 19 and will available via on demand on March 24, according to the studio. Both dates are within the typical 90-day theatrical window for major studio films.

The studio's decision to move up windows for theatrical movies follows the closing of most theater chains around the country due to coronavirus fears. Warner Bros. also moved up VOD windows for its DC Comics-based theatrical film Birds of Prey, which will be available for digital purchase on March 24 -- about 45 days after its Feb. 7 theatrical release.

Earlier this week NBCUniversal announced a reduction of the theatrical window for several of its movies, including The Hunt, The Invisible Man and Emma, which will be available vie on demand for $19.99 starting March 20.

Related: Comcast NBCU Bypassing Shuttered Theaters With Streaming Releases of Movies