Sarah Michelle Gellar’s New R-Rated Horror Movie Officially Breaks All-Time Rotten Tomatoes Record After 27 Years

The new horror comedy sequel showcases the aftermath of Grace’s (Samara Weaving) survival from a deadly hide-and-seek game against her new in-laws. She is back in a new game, facing off against new players like Gellar, who eyes the High Council seat that controls the world. Early Ready or Not 2 reviews were generally positive, garnering a 75% critic score.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, Ready or Not 2 has an audience score of 90%, breaking a 27-year record as the highest-rated movie starring Gellar. It beats the record once held by Cruel Intentions, which had a Popcornmeter of 80%. The audience score is currently a step up from the first movie’s 78%, as reviews have praised the follow-up for upping the gory cat and mouse chase alongside Weaving and Kathryn Newton’s complicated sibling dynamic.

Up until recently, Gellar has mostly appeared in cameo roles, including I Know What You Did Last Summer and Do Revenge. In the television sphere, she has also been returning to her roots in the horror or thriller genre, including Wolf Pack and Dexter: Resurrection. Thus, the 2020s have been a resurgence era for Gellar.

The scream queen has a much bigger role in Ready or Not 2, being one of the adversaries against Weaving’s hero. As of writing, however, Gellar doesn’t have any current projects in development, especially after she confirmed the doomed fate of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer revival. However, she is a judge on Star Search and will have a voice role for the TV show, Breaking Bear.

A week before the movie’s release, Gellar confirmed that Hulu decided not to move forward with the project and then elaborated that an executive was responsible for scrapping the project. The series would have introduced a new slayer, Nova, while Gellar would have reprised her iconic role, Buffy Summers.

Meanwhile, Ready or Not 2 is officially one of her only two movies to score a “fresh” designation on the site, with the other being Scream 2, which is currently her highest-rated movie based on critics’ reviews.

Now that the new sequel has won over audiences, word of mouth will possibly help with its box office performance as it faces the sci-fi epic, Project Hail Mary. It’s been projected that the film will earn $10 million during its opening weekend, against a budget of $6–10 million. The 2019 original was a megahit that earned $57 million.

Radio Silence duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett once again return to the directorial role, while Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy wrote the story. The remaining cast features Elijah Wood, Shawn Hatosy, and David Cronenberg. The film marks an Abigail reunion between Radio Silence, Kevin Durand, and Newton.

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come is now playing in theaters.