The directorial work of horror filmmaker Mike Flanagan spans both film and television. With features that include Doctor Sleep and television shows like The Haunting of Hill House, he’s become something of a household name. Now one of his smaller features, a prequel to an otherwise panned horror movie, is trending on Max.
The terrific numbers this film has been doing on the Warner Bros-owned streaming service have been shared via FlixPatrol. As of this writing, it happens to be the second most streamed movie on the platform, just behind Meg 2: The Trench. This movie is none other than 2016’s Ouija: Origin of Evil.
In 2014, the movie Ouija was released by Universal. Despite incredibly negative reviews, the film earned more than $100 million worldwide on an estimated $5-8 million budget. This meant that a continuation was in order and Mike Flanagan was tapped for the job. The result was the prequel Ouija: Origin of Evil, which seems to have overshadowed its predecessor.
Ouija: Origin of Evil would go on to make $81 million worldwide at the box office with a $9-12 million budget. While the numbers don’t quite match its predecessor, it was still a hit at the box office, and it received a much higher critical reception. In fact, many critics and moviegoers considered it superior to the original Ouija.
Now, all of these years later, it still has the potential to break numbers. Of course, Mike Flanagan has moved far beyond the works of Ouija, with Netflix having just released his brand-new miniseries The Fall of the House of Usher. Additionally, he’s set to part ways with that particular streaming service, as Flanagan has just signed a deal with Amazon to produce content for their service instead.
It goes to show that Ouija: Origin of Evil was a positive step forward for Flanagan, one that signaled the direction for his career, and an example of how his works will continue to endure even in the competitive landscape that is streaming. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for additional updates on what’s trending. Fans can currently stream the horror film Ouija: Origin of Evil for themselves via Max.