Until Dawn (film)

Until Dawn (retroactively referred to as Until Dawn – Part 1) is a 2023 American mystery, horror-suspense film directed by Darren Aronofsky and written by Larry Fessenden and Graham Reznick, who produced it with Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Jon Kilik, stars an ensemble cast that includes Remi Malek, Hayden Panettiere, Noah Fleiss, Galadriel Stineman, Nicole Sakura, Bratt Dalton, Mahegan Martin and Ella Letini, as a group of young adults who have to survive the strange supernatural events of Blackwood Pines. The film also stars Jenny Slate and Aaron Lazar in supporting roles.

It is based on an original story by Fessenden and Reznick influenced by contemporary slasher films. Ideas for the film began in 1999, when the premise was conceived by Fessenden's treatments during his work on Wendigo (2001), with the intention of releasing it sometime in 2004, seeking collaborators for early concepts, Reznick contacted him and they wrote an initial script. There was a drafting process caused delays in the project. Preproduction began in 2020, when A24 agreed to plans to take the project on a creative self-funding basis, with the project split into two feature films. The filming process was taken as separate films, but it was carried out back to back. Production for Part 1 began in Simi Valley, California on February 1, 2021 and wrapped on November 15.

Until Dawn premiered at South by Southwest on March 3, 2023, and began a limited theatrical release in the United States on March 27, 2023, before a wide release by Manhattan-based A24 on March 31. The film was widely acclaimed for its script, direction, acting, visual effects, costume design, action sequences, musical score, and editing, but was criticized for its lack of originality. It grossed over $367 million worldwide, surpassing A24's previous best-ever grossing film, Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022). It was followed by the final entry, Until Dawn – Part 2 in April 2024.

Premise
Eight young adults are forced to survive until dawn after forming a meeting at the private Blackwood Mountain resort unaware that dark forces are lurking.

Theatrical
The world premiere was at the South by Southwest film festival on March 3, 2023. Its limited release in theaters was on March 27, 2023, and its nationwide release was on March 31, in the United States by A24. On April 14, 2023, the film was released in select IMAX theaters in the U.S. due to its popularity and had additional re-expansions on September 1, 2023 and January 26, 2024.

Home media
The film was released on digital streaming platforms on July 12, 2023, and was released on Blu-ray, DVD, and Ultra HD Blu-ray on August 23, 2023, by Lionsgate Home Entertainment.

Box office
Until Dawn has grossed $217.5 million in the United States and Canada and $152.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $369.9 million. It became the highest grossing film distributed by A24. Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $87.5 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.

In the United States and Canada, the film earned $2.5 million from 26 venues in its opening weekend, a record for A24. In its second weekend, the film received a wide expansion to 2.809 theaters, grossed $32.4 million finishing second at the box office. The overperformance was attributed to the film's positive reviews and marketing, with advance ticket sales on Fandango outpacing in a 356% compared to the previous weekend. In its third weekend, the film made $21.7 million, dropping 32% and finishing third at the box office. In its fourth weekend, received an IMAX release following its successful run up to that point, adding $17.1 million (a drop of -21%). On April 9, it crossed the $80.1 million mark, surpassing Everything Everywhere All At Once ($77 million) as A24's highest-grossing film domestically.