‘It Follows’ Chases Spring Break Crowds; Expands To 1,655 Theaters Friday

David Robert Mitchell’s cult horror film It Follows, which saw a whopping 1,005% surge this weekend at the box office after going from 32 to 1,218 theaters, is upping its count to 1,655 this Friday.

The expansion couldn’t be happening at a more perfect time as spring break is in full swing: Per Rentrak, 78% of K-12 schools and 37% colleges are off on Good Friday with Easter Monday seeing 48% K-12 off and 12% colleges out.

It Follows, which bowed at last year’s Cannes Film Festival Critics’ Week sidebar came screaming out of the gate during its opening frame of March 13-15, charting a hearty opening per theater average of $40K in its first weekend across four New York and Los Angeles venues (or $160K).

The second weekend for It Follows got even better as it went to 32 hubs, making $345K, and a $10,777 PTA. Distrib Radius-TWC and Dimension Films saw the potential, put off the VOD/DVD release to later this year instead of going with theatrical, and busted past 1,000 engagements in the film’s third weekend for a FSS of $3.8M. Total domestic cume through yesterday stands at $4.5M.

One of the best-reviewed films of the year with a 95% Rotten Tomatoes score, It Follows tells the story of 19-year old Jay (Maika Monroe) who after an innocent sexual encounter, is haunted by nightmarish vision. It’s as though someone or something — is following her.

Monroe has been a driving force behind the film’s promotion, spreading the good word  to her Twitter (12K), Instagram (12K) and Facebook (19K) followers, and making appearances at screenings for the film.