It’s not exactly a surprise thatRob Savage’sThe Boogeymandoesn’t have a post-credit scene. While the movie is an adaptation of a classic story by the master of horror,Stephen King, the original material is just a dozen pages long. So Savage was taking a risk extending the story into feature-length. In addition, whileThe Boogeymanis a spine-chilling short story by King, it’s not a property known as well as the writer’s classics, such asThe Shining,It, orPet Sematary. For those reasons, it was best for Savage to focus on the story he had at hand instead of wasting energy teasing sequels that might not happen. Even so,The Boogeymansurely has franchise potential, despite the lack of end-credits scenes. That’s because Savage delivers solid PG-13 scares, and the script byScott Beck,Bryan Woods, andMark Heymanleaves enough breadcrumbs behind for a possible sequel.
‘The Boogeyman’ Has Franchise Potential Without an End-Credits Scene
The Boogeymanfollows the Harper family as they deal with the trauma of losing a loved one. The movie starsSophie ThatcherandVivien Lyra Blairas sisters who see their life uprooted after their mother dies. What’s bad can always get worse, though, as the girl’s father, Dr. Harper (Chris Messina), refuses to confront the trauma of losing his wife and, in doing so, fails to give his daughters the support they need. Furthermore, one of Dr. Harper’s patients, Lester Billings (David Dastmalchian), brings a supernatural menace inside the family’s home.
By its concept alone,The Boogeymanshows much potential in extending King’s short story.The Boogeymanalso has a competent cast delivering emotional performances that help increase the film’s stakes. Finally, the creature design ofThe Boogeymanleads to some memorable jump scares that will please horror fans looking for the next thrill. As a result,The Boogeymanis a solid horror flick that shouldn’t take long before turning a profit.Early predictions give it a $15 million box office for its release weekend, a good result for a horror movie, especially when the competition isSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
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The franchise potential ofThe Boogeymanis even more welcomed if we remember that Disney’s original plan was to dump the adaptation on Hulu.Everybody is happy the movie got its chance to scare us in the theaters, including King, who saw an early version ofThe Boogeymanand underlined how it needed a theatrical release.According to Savage, King liked the adaptation so much that the writer said, “‘They’d be fucking stupid to release this on streaming and not in cinemas.'"
Thanks to the nature of its titular creature, Savage can come back to helmThe Boogeyman 2, maybe focusing on a new family and their struggle against the shadow monster. Still, ultimately, it’s better ifThe Boogeymandoesn’t have a post-credit scene. The movie already leaves the door open for a sequel without an end-credits scene, and this is more than enough to give the adaptation the opportunity of becoming a franchise.
The Boogeymanis in theaters now.
