Thriller 'Don't Breathe' Tops U.S. Charts, Releases August 31 Locally

Columbia Pictures' gripping suspense thriller “Don't Breathe” – which Variety hails as “a muscular exercise in brutal, relentless peril” – spooked the U.S. box-office with a chilling $26.1-million, easily opening at No.1 for the Aug. 26-28 weekend. It joins a long list of recent horror films such as “The Conjuring 2”, “Lights Out” and “The Shallows” that have all found success. “Don’t Breathe” cost less than $10 million to produce, but it more than doubled its production budget in a single weekend, after rolling out across 3,051 locations.

The film follows a trio of friends breaks into the house of a blind recluse confident of an easy score only to find themselves in a terrifying life-or-death struggle. The No.1 launch of “Don't Breathe” in the U.S. bodes well for the thriller's box-office prospects in the Philippines as the film rolls out in local cinemas starting this Wednesday, Aug. 31, two days from now. The Filipino audience are great horror fans, and the film's favorable R-13 rating from the MTRCB will likely boost the attraction core genre moviegoers.

“Don't Breathe” created a thunderstorm of excitement and wild buzz when it premiered at the recent South By South West (SXSW) film festival, with some critics describing it as “the best suspense thriller in the last decade.” Now, Philippine audiences will discover why the film has driven reviewers at the edge of their seats. Some early reviews have stated that “the lean and mean pic offers scares aplenty and at least a couple of game-changing twists” and that the film “takes you into far darker territory than anticipated”.

“Don’t Breathe” stars Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Daniel Zovatto and Stephen Lang. “Don't Breathe” is distributed in the Philippines by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.