Nosferatu, Robert Eggers’ outstanding modern adaptation of the 1922 classic by F.W. Murnau, has reached a major milestone in the performance metrics of 2024. Recently released on Christmas Day, 2024, the vampire movie has made more than $135 million at the box office and has sailed past major releases like Longlegs and The Substance, making it the highest-grossing horror movie of the year that wasn’t a prequel or a sequel. Sure, it’s still a remake, so it’s too soon to say that audiences have embraced originality, though it’s a remake of a century-old film (not counting Werner Herzog’s 1979 version).

1922’s loose adaptation of Bram Stoker’s vampire classic Dracula (reworked for legal reasons at the time), Nosferatu has long been esteemed as one of the greatest horror films of all time. 2024’s remake was a passion project for Eggers, whose idea for a new adaptation had been brewing in his mind since he began making Hollywood movies like The Witch. Nosferatu has been his only take on a pre-existing IP, but it doesn’t mean it’s less original than it should be. By the time of writing, it holds an 85% score on Rotten Tomatoes and has the valuable label Certified Fresh, one that’s not often given to horror films.

Nosferatu’s run at the box office has been good enough for the film to claim the title of 2024’s highest-grossing non-sequel, non-prequel horror movie. Per the report by Screen Rant, the title was previously in the hands of Longlegs, Osgood Perkins’ serial killer horror film starring Nicolas Cage and Maika Monroe. The film, distributed by NEON, made $127 million at the box office from a production budget that didn’t reach $10 million. Eggers’ film was much more expensive, as the production budget was reported at a whopping $50 million (much of it was probably spent on paying high-profile actors and shooting locations).

Other original horror films that were prominent box office-wise in 2024 include Exhuma ($93.9 million, the highest-grossing movie of 2024 in South Korea), Trap ($82.7 million), The Substance ($79 million), Speak No Evil ($76.8 million, but it’s a remake, so perhaps it doesn’t entirely fit the category of “original horror”), Night Swim ($54.8 million), and Heretic ($51.9 million).

2024 Had Its Fair Share of Horror Bangers

Last year saw the release of excellent horror films that once again proved the worth of the genre in an era of complicated release schedules and where streaming platforms each day become more important for lesser-known movies. The preference is, of course, a theatrical release, but 2024 also proved that a digital release close to theatrical helps a film grow. In the land of streaming, the odds are all the same for horror movies.

The most successful horror film of the year was Alien: Romulus, making well over $350 million. A Quiet Place: Day One follows with $261 million, and Smile 2 follows with $138 million. The odds that Nosferatu will win over the horror sequel by Parker Finn are high, as it only has to make less than $3 million to sit in third spot. One could argue that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice should also be in the race, and if we decide to include it, the legacy sequel would be the highest-grossing horror film of 2024. The Tim Burton film made more than $451 million.

What does this prove? It proves that horror is still the profitable genre it has always been. While franchises and existing IP are still surefire ways to success, the occasional indie can certainly blow up the box office, proving that you don’t need a massive budget to make millions. You only need good marketing. Even something as gory and disgusting as Terrifier 3 can make almost $90 million from a $2 million production budget.

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Nosferatu is a remake of the 1922 silent film of the same name from director F. W. Murnau. Robert Eggers is crafting his own version of the story for the reboot as writer and director, with Bill Skarsgård stepping into the shoes of Count Orlok. Nosferatu tells the tale of a young woman who falls victim to a vampire utterly infatuated with her.

Release Date

December 25, 2024

Runtime

132 Minutes

Studio(s)

Regency Enterprises
, 1492 Pictures

Distributor(s)

Focus Features
, Universal Pictures

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2013’s Lone Survivor is based on an incredible true story, but how accurate is the film when compared to the real events that transpired? Directed by Peter Berg and starring Mark Wahlberg, Lone Survivor is a biographical war film and a retelling of a specific operation during the war in Afghanistan. The strong cast and talented director attached to the film allowed Lone Survivor to become one of the highest-grossing war movies of all time.

Amid the heroic acts in Lone Survivor‘s somewhat sensationalized narrative is a true story that is based on a 2007 nonfiction book. The book is titled Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Red Wings and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 and is an incredible true story that was retold by Berg and his team. The film is well-crafted, excellently performed, suitably tense, and exciting. It becomes even more unbelievable when concerning the true story on which Lone Survivor is based.

Lone Survivor Was Based On Operation Red Wings

The Real Event Happened In 2005

The true story of Lone Survivor comes from Operation Red Wings. This operation was highlighted by one of its combatants – Marcus Luttrell ,whom Mark Wahlberg portrayed in the movie. Operation Red Wings, also known as the Battle of Abbas Ghar, was a United States military operation in 2005 during the war in Afghanistan. The operation was a targeted strike against a man named Ahmad Shah by a team of Navy SEALs with the primary objective of gaining sufficient intel on the area and Shah’s activities.

The operation involved a team of four SEALs being fast-roped into the target area by a helicopter, where they were expected to find Shah. However, Operation Red Wings went awry when the four SEALs were discovered, leading to a lengthy conflict that lasted around three weeks. Lone Survivor highlights Operation Red Wings from its beginning to its ending.

Why The Navy SEAL Team Was Targeting Ahmad Shah

He Was The Leader Of The Local Taliban-Aligned Anti-Coalition Militias

Interestingly, one of the few historical inaccuracies of 2013’s Lone Survivor is the listing of Ahmad Shah as a high-level al-Qaeda operative. The film and Luttrell’s original book also stated that Shah was one of Osama bin Laden’s closest associates. However, it has since been disproven that Shah was a member of the Taliban, nor was he a comrade to bin Laden. In reality, the Navy SEAL team targeted Ahmad Shah during Operation Red Wings as he was the leader of the local Taliban-aligned anti-coalition militias.

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25 Best War Movies Of All Time

They say all is fair in love and war, and cinema has taken great liberties with the latter. However, it’s also been impressively creative.

The group of SEALs was tasked with surveillance and reconnaissance of several structures that were known to belong to Shah and his men. However, Shah became aware of the SEALs’ location and the latter were ambushed by the former. This derailed Operation Red Wings and led to the deaths of all but one of the SEAL members.

How The SEALs Were Killed During Operation Red Wings (Except Marcus Luttrell)

Marcus Luttrell Was The Lone Survivor

The titular lone survivor of Operation Red Wings was Marcus Luttrell. Tragically, the other three members of his SEAL team were killed during the Taliban attack. The attack began after civilian goat herders encountered the team. The team debated whether to kill the civilians, as they may have been Taliban sympathizers, or set them free. The SEALs opted for the latter, yet Shah was subsequently alerted to the location of Luttrell and his team. This resulted in a full-on assault by Shah and an overwhelming number of soldiers that faced the four SEALs, resulting in three of their deaths.

Danny Dietz

The first SEAL to be killed was Petty Officer Second Class Danny Dietz. Dietz was caught in the brunt of the initial assault by the Taliban. In an interview with CBS News, Luttrell outlined that Dietz was shot multiple times during the initial attack. As Luttrell was dragging Dietz further down the mountain, he was fatally shot in the head.

Michael Murphy

The next death during Operation Red Wings was Lieutenant Michael Murphy. Shortly after Dietz was killed, Murphy scaled the mountain, leaving cover in favor of a clearing in order to get a signal on his satellite phone. Murphy did this in the hopes of contacting headquarters to alert them of Shah’s attack and gain reinforcements. However, Murphy’s exposed position saw him become an easy target for the attacking enemy and he was shot multiple times, dying shortly thereafter from his wounds despite succeeding in calling for help.

Matthew Axelson

The third and final Navy SEAL to be killed during Operation Red Wings was Sonar technician Second Class Matthew Axelson. Like Dietz, Axelson was gravely wounded during the brunt of the Taliban attack. Reports indicated that Axelson was shot in his chest, yet continued to fend off the attack until he suffered a gunshot wound to the head mere hours after the operation began.

How Luttrell Was Kept Alive From The Invading Taliban

Mohammad Gulab Invoked The Pashtunwali Custom Of Nanawatai

As Lone Survivor depicts, Marcus Luttrell was then left alive as the last remaining SEAL during Operation Red Wings. After this, the story of Luttrell’s survival against the oncoming wave of Taliban soldiers is remarkable. Wounded, Luttrell continued to descend the mountain on which he was pinned until he came across a Pashtun – Afghanistan’s largest ethnic group – civilian named Mohammad Gulab. Gulab invoked the Pashtunwali custom of Nanawatai, in which asylum is granted to protect someone from their enemies.

As such, Gulab took Luttrell back to his village and insisted the other villagers protect him until U.S. soldiers could safely rescue him. Partly due to the goodwill that had recently been built between the Americans and the civilians of the Shuryek Valley, Luttrell’s sanctuary was welcomed. Through a handful of other civilians, including Gulab, in the Shuryek Valley, a note written by Luttrell made its way to the Marine base in Nangalam. Eventually, Luttrell was extracted from the valley by U.S. Air Force Pararescuemen.

What Happened To The Real Marcus Luttrell

He Returned To Active Duty Before Returning Home in 2007

While the 2013 film Lone Survivor depicts these events, the movie’s ending leaves little exploration of what happened to Marcus Luttrell after his rescue. The real Luttrell was naturally allowed time to recover from his injuries sustained during Operation Red Wings. After his recovery, Luttrell returned to full duty and was redeployed to Ramadi, a city in central Iraq. As such, Luttrell fought in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2006 as part of SEAL Team Five.

Luttrell’s further service then saw him withstand more injuries including further spinal fractures after suffering the same during Operation Red Wings. Luttrell also had his knees blown out with these injuries resulting in his discharge from the U.S. Army. Luttrell received the Navy Cross, the second-highest military decoration for Navy members, before returning home in 2007. In relation to the aptly titled Lone Survivor film, Luttrell established the Lone Survivor Foundation in 2010 to aid wounded soldiers and their families in light of his trauma during the incredible true story of Operation Red Wings.

What Changes Did The Lone Survivor Movie Make?

Several Changes Were Made To Add Excitement

As this is a movie meant to entertain viewers, Lone Survivor made some key changes to the real story in the film. One example is that the movie shows Marcus Luttrell’s heart stop beating during his rescue. That did not happen in real life. Luttrell was not almost dead before his rescue. Instead, he had time to have tea during the debriefing, and some of the villagers were also there during this downtime. Marcus then said goodbye and left, making his exit much less dramatic in real life.

There was also a moment in the movie that was changed from the book. In the novel, there was a vote by the four soldiers on whether they would kill the goatherds or let them go. Many contested this after the book’s publication. In the movie, Taylor Kitsch’s Lt. Mike Murphy said in the film, “This is not a vote,” as they decided the goatherds’ fate. According to Peter Berg, this was done to honor the soldiers’ families since the vote did not happen in real life, but a discussion did. “Mike Murphy made that decision. It wasn’t a vote,” Berg said.

As for the battle itself, there are many different versions of how many Taliban fighters attacked the four American soldiers. In the movie, there were around 50 Taliban fighters. The book claims there were between 80 and 200 armed men. However, Marcus Littrell said both of these estimates are high, and there were only 20 to 35 Anti-Calition Militia fighters. Lieutenant Michael Murphy’s official Medal of Honor citation says, “between 30 and 40 enemy fighters besieged his four-member team.”

Finally, the movie’s final fight before Luttrell was rescued was invented to offer a climactic conclusion. The U.S. forces didn’t have to fight off the Taliban to save Luttrell. Also, Gulab was shot in the back, and his house was blown up in Lone Survivor, and neither of those things happened in real life. In reality, Army Rangers and Afghan special forces rescued Luttrell in the woods when Gulab and his villagers were trying to get Luttrell to a safe location.

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Lone Survivor is a dramatization of the United States Navy SEALs’ Operation Red Wing, an unsuccessful military operation that aimed to track down the leader of the Taliban. The film follows the four-man SEAL team, and the danger and psychological strain they faced on their mission.

Release Date

December 25, 2013

Runtime

121 minutes

Cast

Mark Wahlberg
, Taylor Kitsch
, Emile Hirsch
, Ben Foster
, Eric Bana
, Ali Suliman

Director

Peter Berg

Distributor(s)

Universal Pictures