Don't Breathe

Don't Breathe is a 2016 American horror

thriller film produced and directed by
Fede Álvarez, co-produced by Sam Raimi
and Robert Tapert, and co-written by
Álvarez and Rodo Sayagues. The film
stars Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Daniel
Zovatto, and Stephen Lang, and focuses
on three friends who get trapped inside a
blind man's house while breaking into it.
The film was produced by Ghost House
Pictures and Good Universe and
distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing.
 Don't Breathe

Theatrical release poster

Directed by Fede Álvarez

Produced by Fede Álvarez

Sam Raimi
Robert Tapert

Written by Fede Álvarez

Rodo Sayagues

Starring Jane Levy

Stephen Lang
 Dylan Minnette
Daniel Zovatto

Music by Roque Baños

Cinematography Pedro Luque

Edited by Eric L. Beason

Louise Ford
Production Screen Gems
companies
Stage 6 Films
Ghost House
Pictures
Good Universe

Distributed by Sony Pictures

Releasing
Release date March 12, 2016
(SXSW)
 August 26, 2016
Running time (United States)
88 minutes [1][2]

Country United States

Language English

Budget $9.9 million[3]

Box office $157.1 million[3]

In contrast to his previous work on Evil

Dead, director Álvarez decided the
project would have less blood, an original
storyline, more suspense, and no
dependence on spooky supernatural
elements - which he felt was currently
overused. The project, originally titled A
Man in the Dark, was later announced in
early 2014, with Álvarez directing,
Sayagues writing, Raimi and Tapert
producing, and Levy starring. Principal
photography began on June 29, 2015,
and wrapped in July 2015 in Detroit.

Don't Breathe premiered at South by

Southwest on March 12, 2016, and was
theatrically released on August 26, 2016,
by Screen Gems and Stage 6 Films. The
film had grossed over $157 million and
received largely positive reviews from
critics, with many praising the
performances (particularly Levy, Lang,
and Minnette), direction, screenplay and
tense atmosphere.

Plot
Rocky, Alex, and Money are three Detroit
delinquents who make a living by
breaking into houses and stealing
valuables. Rocky longs to move to
California with her younger sister, Diddy,
and escape from their abusive mother
and her alcoholic boyfriend. However,
much to the trio's frustration, their fence
keeps undervaluing the items they bring.

Money receives a tip from their fence

that a man has $300,000 in cash in his
house in an abandoned Detroit
neighborhood. The cash was reportedly a
settlement after a wealthy young woman,
Cindy Roberts, killed his daughter in a car
accident. The three spy on the house and
learn that the man, Gulf War veteran
Norman Nordstrom, is blind.

At night, the three approach the house,

drug Nordstrom's rottweiler dog, then find
a way in. Money goes upstairs and puts a
sleeping gas bottle in Nordstrom's
bedroom. The group search the house
but cannot find the money. Seeing a
locked door, Money assumes the money
is hidden down there and shoots the
lock. The noise wakes up Nordstrom,
who overpowers Money while Rocky and
Alex hide. After Money insists he is
alone, Nordstrom kills him. Rocky, who
hides in the closet, witnesses the man
open a hidden safe to check his money.
After he leaves, she opens the safe and
takes the money. However, Nordstrom
finds Rocky's shoes and realizes that
Money was not the only intruder.

Rocky and Alex evade Nordstrom and

enter the basement. There, they find a
restrained and gagged woman in a home-
made padded cell. The woman reveals
herself to be Cindy Roberts and that she
was found innocent after the car
accident. Rocky and Alex free her and
attempt to open the storm cellar door.
Nordstrom shoots at them and
accidentally kills Cindy. He breaks down
and cries in distress over her dead body.
Rocky and Alex rush back into the cellar
while Nordstrom shuts off the lights,
plunging them into darkness. After a
blind struggle, Alex knocks out
Nordstrom and they flee upstairs.

After blocking the basement door, they

encounter the dog, who has woken. They
flee into the bedroom, where they are
trapped by the barred windows. Rocky
escapes the room through a ventilation
duct, while the dog attacks Alex. He falls
out of a window onto a skylight and is
knocked out. When Alex awakens,
Nordstrom shoots out the skylight and
corners Alex in the utility room, appearing
to kill him with a pair of garden shears.
Meanwhile, the dog pursues Rocky
through the vents, and she is captured by
Nordstrom.

Rocky wakes up restrained in the

basement. Nordstrom puts Cindy's
corpse in a big metal box, fills it up with
acid, and covers it up with a piece of the
floor. He reveals that Cindy was pregnant
with his "replacement" child, explaining
he is not a rapist. He then prepares to
artificially inseminate Rocky using a
turkey baster and promises to let her go
after she gives him a child. Alex, who
survived by fooling Nordstrom to stab
Money's corpse, saves Rocky, and
handcuffs Nordstrom. Rocky and Alex
use the turkey baster as a weapon on
Nordstrom.

Rocky and Alex try to leave through the

front door. Nordstrom breaks free and
shoots Alex dead. Rocky flees as the dog
pursues her. She manages to trap the
dog in her car trunk but gets captured
again by Nordstrom. Inside his house,
Rocky disorients him by setting off his
house's alarm system, then hits him
repeatedly in the head with a crowbar
and pushes him into the basement. The
gun fires into his side as he falls.
Believing him dead, Rocky escapes
before the police arrive.
Before boarding a train to Los Angeles,
Rocky and Diddy see a news report about
the incident. Nordstrom, who is
recovering in a hospital, is reported to
have killed two intruders (Alex and
Money) in self-defense. He doesn't
mention Rocky or the missing money.
Rocky and Diddy board the train and
leave.

Cast
Jane Levy as Roxanne / "Rocky"
Stephen Lang as Norman Nordstrom /
"The Blind Man"[4]
Dylan Minnette as Alex[5]
Daniel Zovatto as Money[6]
 Franciska Törőcsik as Cindy Roberts
Emma Bercovici as Diddy
Christian Zagia as Raul[7]
Katia Bokor as Ginger
Sergej Onopko as Trevor

Production

Development …

Fede Álvarez noted that making the film

was, in some ways, a reaction to his
debut film Evil Dead (2013), specifically
the criticisms that the film had too much
blood, focused too much on shocking the
audience, and was a remake. In
response, Álvarez decided to make Don't
Breathe, an original story that contained
less blood and focused more on
suspense over shocking audiences.[8] He
wanted to avoid making a film dealing
with the supernatural, as he felt that was
too trendy.[8]

Choosing to make the antagonist blind

was a result of deliberately taking
abilities away from him; Álvarez
explained,

"Sometimes you naturally give

them powers and make them
more menacing than a normal
person, so we thought what if
we do the other way around
 and take his eyes out and
make him a blind person." [8]

Álvarez has called the movie an "exercise

in reversal" noting that the film
deliberately subverts tropes such as the
fact that the house in question is a "nice
house on a scary street" as opposed to
the opposite, or that the movie is a home
invasion story told from the point of view
of the invaders.[9]

Casting …

On May 1, 2015, Daniel Zovatto joined the

cast.[6] On May 22, 2015, Dylan Minnette
was cast in the film, and on June 18,
2015, Jane Levy and Stephen Lang joined
the cast.

Filming …

Principal photography began on June 29,

2015.[10] Though the film is set in Detroit,
it was primarily shot in Hungary; only a
few views of Detroit were filmed there.[2]
Álvarez estimated that the film cost
roughly half as much as Evil Dead, and
welcomed the change, as it allowed for
less studio interference.[8]

Release
The film premiered at South by
Southwest on March 12, 2016,[2] and was
theatrically released on August 26, 2016,
by Screen Gems.[11]

Box office …

Don't Breathe grossed $89.2 million in

North America and $67.9 million in other
territories for a worldwide total of $157.1
million, against a production budget of
$9.9 million.[3] Due to its low production
budget, the film became a sleeper hit and
was considered a large financial success,
with a net profit of $59.1 million, when
factoring together all expenses and
revenues.[12][13][14] For Sony Pictures, it
became their second late-summer
surprise hit of 2016, following Sausage
Party.[15]

Don't Breathe was released in the United

States and Canada on August 26, 2016,
and was originally projected to gross
$11–14 million from 3,051 theaters in its
opening weekend, with some estimates
going as high as $20 million,[16][17] and
many publications noting it could be the
first film to dethrone Suicide Squad from
the top of the box office.[18] It made $1.9
million from Thursday night preview
screenings, at 2,500 theaters,[19][20] and
$10 million on its opening day.[21] It fell
just 1.5% on Saturday, earning $9.8
million, which is uncommon as R-rated
horror films tend to do well on their first
day and drop sharply in revenue from
their second day onward.[22] Compared
to other 2016 horror films, Lights Out had
a drop of 22%, while The Conjuring 2 fell
by 15%.[22] In total, it grossed $26.4
million in its opening weekend, far above
initial projections by 120% and easily
displacing Suicide Squad to take the top
spot at the box office. It was the biggest
original horror debut of the year (besting
10 Cloverfield Lane), the biggest Screen
Gems August opening ever (beating
Takers) and the biggest debut for an R-
rated original horror film since The
Conjuring in 2013.[22][23] Following its
first-place finish, the film continued to
dominate the box office for the second
weekend, earning $15.8 million and an
estimated $19.7 million for the four day
Labor Day holiday, one of the best
numbers ever for the long holiday
weekend.[24] As a result, it became only
the second horror film to top the
weekend box office two weekends in a
row since 2014.[25] The second weekend
drop was only -40%, a remarkable feat
considering the fact that horror films
typically tumble at least 60% or more in
their second weekend. The gradual drop
was due to the holiday. It took only 11
days to surpass Álvarez's previous film,
the Evil Dead reboot.[26][27]
Although the film fell to third place in its
third weekend as a result of being
overtaken by Sully and When the Bough
Breaks, it continued to witness strong
holds by falling 49% after adding another
333 theaters.[15][28]

Outside North America, the film's biggest

debuts were in the U.K. ($1.3 million),
Germany ($1.3 million), Brazil ($1.2
million) Mexico ($1.2 million) and
Australia ($1 million).[29][30][31][32] It
scored the third biggest opening of the
year for a Hollywood film in Korea with
$4.5 million.[33] It's on pace to become
the highest-grossing horror film in
Uruguay.[31]
Reception
On review aggregation website Rotten
Tomatoes the film has an approval rating
of 88% based on 226 reviews, with an
average rating of 7.21/10. The site's
critical consensus reads, "Don't Breathe
smartly twists its sturdy premise to offer
a satisfyingly tense, chilling addition to
the home invasion genre that's all the
more effective for its simplicity."[34]
Metacritic, which assigns a rating to
reviews, gives the film a score of 71 out
of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating
"generally favorable reviews".[35]
Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave
the film an average grade of "B+" on an
A+ to F scale.[36]

Dennis Harvey of Variety called Don't

Breathe "a muscular exercise in brutal,
relentless peril that should please genre
fans."[2] Jim Vejvoda of IGN awarded
8.8/10 and wrote, "Director Fede Alvarez
delivers a lean, very mean thrill ride with
Don't Breathe, tapping into several primal
human fears and further establishing
himself as one of the genre filmmakers
to keep an eye on in the years ahead."[37]
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the
film 3 out of 4 stars, writing: "This is
some weird, twisted shit. Don't groan
when I say Don't Breathe is a home-
invasion thriller. Director Fede Alvarez is
as good as it gets when it comes to
playing with things that go bump in the
night."[38] Kyle Smith of the New York Post
also gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, saying,
"Apart from its thin characters and
occasional trite moments, as well as a
silly attempt to set up a sequel, Don't
Breathe is just about perfect."[39]

Amy Nicholson of MTV wrote in a

positive review, "Alvarez knows the size
of his ambitions. He's written one great
ghoul, surrounded him with targets, and
simply let him let rip."[40] The Verge called
it "an impressive script-flip from the 1967
classic Wait Until Dark".[41] Álvarez says
he wrote the script before watching Wait
Until Dark.[42] Magazine called it "the best
American horror film in twenty years."

Awards
Date of
Award Category Recipient(s) Result Ref(s)
ceremony

December Best Sci-Fi/Horror Don't [43]

Critics Choice Awards Nominated
11, 2016 Movie Breathe

March 19, Don't [44]

Empire Awards Best Horror Nominated
2017 Breathe

Don't
Best Film Nominated
Fangoria Chainsaw October 2, Breathe
[45]
Awards 2017 Best Supporting Stephen
Won
Actor Lang

June 28, Don't [46]

Saturn Awards Best Horror Film Won
2017 Breathe

Best
St. Louis Gateway Film December Don't [47]
Horror/Science- Nominated
Critics Association 18, 2016 Breathe
Fiction Film

Sequel
In November 2016, writer/director Fede
Álvarez announced that a sequel was in
the works.[48] Producer Sam Raimi
commented on the sequel and was
quoted saying, "It's only the greatest idea
for a sequel I've ever heard. I'm not
kidding."[49] In November 2018, Álvarez
announced the script for the sequel was
completed.[50]

In January 2020, the title was announced

as Don't Breathe Again. The film, will
begin principal photography in the April
2020, with a script co-written by Rodo
Sayagues and Álvarez. Sayagues will
serve as director, while the latter will
serve as a producer.[51] The film is
scheduled to be released in fall 2021.[52]
See also
List of films featuring home invasions

References
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2016. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
2. Dennis Harvey (March 13, 2016).
" 'Don't Breathe' Review: Fede
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Variety. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
3. "Don't Breathe (2016)" . Box Office
Mojo. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
4. "Don't Breathe Director Fede
Alvarez's Advice To Future
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5. Rebecca Ford (May 22, 2015).
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 9. Rife, Katie. "Don't Breathe's Fede
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12. Fleming Jr, Mike (March 20, 2017).
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21. Scott Mendelson (August 27, 2016).
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22. Anthony D'Alessandro (August 28,
2016). " 'Don't Breathe' Now
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23. Scott Mendelson (August 28, 2016).
"Weekend Box Office: 'Don't Breathe'
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24. Pamela McClintock (September 4,
2016). "Box Office: 'Don't Breathe'
Winning with Huge $19M, But Plenty
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25. Brad Brevet (September 4, 2016).
" 'Don't Breathe' Repeats Atop
Weekend Box Office Over Slow Labor
Day Weekend" . Box Office Mojo.
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26. Anthony D'Alessandro (September 4,
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Weekend B.O. – Sunday Update" .
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China" . Forbes. Retrieved
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28. Anita Busch, Anthony D'Alessandro
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30. Nancy Tartaglione (September 4,
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34. {{cite web
|url=https://rottentomatoes.com/m/
dont_breathe_2016/ |title=Don't
Breathe (2016) |website=Rotten
Tomatoes |accessdate=March 8,
2020}
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"Don't Breathe Review" . IGN.
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38. Travers, Peter (August 26, 2016).
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Sightless" . Rolling Stone. Retrieved
August 27, 2016.
39. Smith, Kyle (August 25, 2016).
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41. "Don't Breathe is a ruthlessly
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42. "3 movies that influenced 'Don't
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mystatesman.com. Retrieved
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43. "La La Land Leads with 12
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"Star Wars: Rogue One Leads Empire
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47. "2016 StLFCA Annual Award
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48. "There's a 'Don't Breathe' Sequel in
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bloody-disgusting.com. November
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49. "Sam Raimi Says They Have the
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50. Welk, Brian (November 3, 2018).
" 'Don't Breathe 2' Has a Script but
'Evil Dead 2' Does Not, Says Fede
Álvarez" . TheWrap. Retrieved
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51. Welk, Brian (January 17, 2020).
" 'Don't Breathe 2' Taps Co-Writer
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Retrieved January 19, 2020.
52. https://www.scoopbyte.com/dont-
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director/

External links
Official website
Don't Breathe on IMDb
 Don't Breathe at Box Office Mojo
Don't Breathe at Metacritic
Don't Breathe at Rotten Tomatoes

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