From director Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down, The Strangers: Prey at Night), Primate delivers exactly what it promises: a brutal slasher built around a murderous chimpanzee — and audiences showed up for it.

The R-rated horror opened strong in its debut weekend, pulling in $11.3 million domestically across 2,964 theaters. That was enough to land Primate in the #2 spot on the U.S. box office charts, trailing only Avatar: Fire and Ash.

Internationally, the killer-chimp thriller added another $2.1 million, bringing its worldwide opening total to $13.4 million.

With a reported production budget of around $21 million, Primate still has ground to cover before turning a profit, especially once marketing costs and theater splits are factored in. Even so, an $11.3 million domestic launch is a solid showing for a January horror release — particularly one centered on a rabid ape.

For context, Primate opened higher than several recent genre titles, including Wolf Man, M3GAN 2.0, Companion, Heart Eyes, Until Dawn, Bring Her Back, and The Strangers: Chapter 2. It also lands just shy of the $11.7 million domestic debut for Stephen King adaptation The Long Walk.

Roberts co-wrote the film with Ernest Riera. The cast includes Johnny Sequoyah alongside Oscar® winner Troy Kotsur (CODA), marking Kotsur’s first foray into horror.

The official synopsis reads: “A group of friends’ tropical vacation turns into a terrifying, primal tale of horror and survival.”

Primate also marks the first theatrical release from Walter Hamada’s new Paramount genre label, 18Hz Productions. Up next from the banner is Passenger, the latest film from director André Øvredal.