Imaginary Rotten Tomatoes Score Continues Dismal Blumhouse Trend

After the studio’s numerous successes, Imaginary has continued Blumhouse’s recent dismal trend on Rotten Tomatoes. Co-written and directed by Jeff Wadlow, who previously partnered with the indie studio on Truth or Dare and Fantasy Island, the horror movie revolves around a woman moving into her childhood home with her husband and stepchildren, only to realize the connection her youngest stepdaughter forms with her old teddy bear is leading to something darker. DeWanda Wise leads the ensemble Imaginary cast alongside Pyper Braun, Tom Payne, Betty Buckley, Teagen Burns and Dane DiLiegro.

With the movie’s recent release, reviews have rolled in for Imaginary and its Rotten Tomatoes score is decidedly negative. Sitting at a 32% approval rating from critics on the review aggregate based on 44 reviews at the time of writing, reviewers have expressed a general appreciation for the concept behind the movie and commending some of its scares, while ultimately lamenting it for having a poor story and direction. The movie’s RT score also continues Blumhouse’s recent trend of poor reviews on the review aggregate.

Could Blumhouse See A Turnaround In 2024?

In addition to continuing Blumhouse’s poor Rotten Tomatoes trend, Imaginary‘s negative score also marks the latest poorly received effort for Wadlow. Since making his directorial debut with the 2005 slasher Cry Wolf, the filmmaker has yet to land a positive score from critics on the review aggregate in the director’s chair, with his highest being the 2022 Netflix horror-comedy The Curse of Bridge Hollow, while the lowest were fellow Netflix comedy The True Memoirs of an International Assassin at a 0% and Fantasy Island reboot at an 8%. Check out Blumhouse’s recent scores in comparison to Imaginary below:

While there have been a handful of standouts amid their recent releases, namely Five Nights at Freddy’s, which became the studio’s highest grossing movie worldwide, the question on many audiences’ minds is whether Blumhouse can reclaim the same success they enjoyed in the years prior. With Imaginary having only just hit theaters, it’s still unclear if the movie’s negative reviews will affect its chances at the box office. However, with early projections putting it at a $10-14 million opening weekend gross, it is on track to at least make back its reported $10-12 million production budget right away.

Even if Imaginary doesn’t take off in the same vein as Five Nights at Freddy’s or the recently released Night Swim, which grossed over $52 million against its $15 million production budget in spite of its poor reviews, Blumhouse could still turn things around heading into the rest of 2024. The studio’s next release is the psychological horror-thriller Speak No Evil, the remake of the acclaimed 2022 movie reuniting Blumhouse with Split star James McAvoy. Followed swiftly by the Leigh Whannell-helmed reboot of The Wolf Man, there is plenty of room for the studio to get back on track.