2024 Was a Record Year for A24 and Neon. 2025 Will Be Tougher

“Heretic” opened to more than $10 million last weekend, another strong opening for A24 in its best year yet at the box office — a feat it has shared with Neon.

Adding to A24’s “Civil War” and Neon’s “Longlegs” — the best weekend openings achieved by either distributor — it’s a sign of the independents’ ability to regain and maintain their composure after the pandemic interrupted their ascents.

The main reason 2024 has been so good to A24 and Neon is simple: Major studios are, for the most part, having an off year after 2023’s strikes reduced their slates. The weeks leading up to a crowded Thanksgiving window have been particularly barren, which worked out well for “Heretic’s” psychological horror outing that skipped Halloween.

Likewise, “Civil War” stood out at the end of a weak spring that became a weak summer start, holding the No. 1 spot for its first two weekends and finishing with close to $70 million domestically. R-rated horror-thriller “Longlegs” did even better with no No. 1 spot, becoming a modest July hit alongside an abundance of successful family tentpoles from the major studios — a reminder that it can pay off to keep slates flush with options for adults who want harder-hitting fare.

Both distributors have a few films left this year, most of which are more awards minded and less likely to draw audiences away from bigger studio fare, though A24’s “Y2K” horror-comedy in December could bring its domestic annual total to $200 million if turnout is half as good as “Civil War.”

But 2025 will be more challenging.

Major studios will be back in full swing, including Disney and its arsenal of Marvel films and live-action remakes of animated classics. Warner Bros.’ slate boasts many films from acclaimed directors the indie distributors are familiar with, including “Parasite” director Bong Joon Ho, who has “Mickey 17” in April, starring Robert Pattinson in his follow-up to Neon’s best picture winner at the Oscars in 2020.

There is also “Flowervale Street,” David Robert Mitchell’s first film since A24’s “Under the Silver Lake” that will precede his “It Follows” follow-up “They Follow” for Neon; the latter isn’t currently slated for 2025.

There are also new films from Ryan Coogler, Barry Levinson and Paul Thomas Anderson coming next year from Warners, not to mention Universal’s totally packed slate nearing 20 films on the calendar.

A24 and Neon haven’t scheduled much of anything yet for 2025, but that’s not for naught. Per Luminate Film & TV, A24 has more than 20 films that are completed or in various stages of production, a sizable pool of options that can join “The Legend of Ochi,” slated for Feb. 28, on the calendar.

By the same criteria, a little more than a dozen films from Neon are options for the year ahead, but only three of them are slated: Steven Soderbergh’s “Presence” (Jan. 24), Osgood Perkins’ “The Monkey” (Feb. 21) — his first since “Longlegs” — and Mike Flanagan’s “The Life of Chuck,” the writer-director’s first film since “The Shining” sequel, “Doctor Sleep,” in 2019.

Keeping with that theme, both “Monkey” and “Chuck” are adapted from Stephen King stories, and “Presence” is also a horror film, evidence that Neon is aware of its strength on the genre front.

One of A24’s 2025 options, “Warfare,” is its likeliest contender for the kind of showing “Civil War” had, as it’s another war film from the same director, Alex Garland. Funnily enough, Garland is also playing a big role for the majors next year, having written and produced “28 Years Later” for Sony, the first of a planned sequel trilogy to his and director Danny Boyle’s definitive “28 Days Later.”

Star Cillian Murphy is reprising his role from the original after his Oscar-winning turn in “Oppenheimer,” raising the stakes further. Given “28 Years Later” is set for the summer, A24 ought to slot “Warfare” in the spring, as it did with “Civil War.”