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 David Gordon Green's "Halloween," a direct sequel to John
Carpenter's 1978 classic, obliterated the franchise record
opening of $26 million, previously held by the 2007 Rob Zombie
reboot. "Halloween" also notched the second-best start for an
R-rated horror film following "It's" $123 million launch. It
also landed the second-highest debut for an October release, set
earlier this month by "Venom" with $80 million.
Overseas, "Halloween" generated $14.3 million from 23 markets
for a global start of $91.8 million. "Halloween" cost just $10
million, marking another win for Jason Blum and Blumhouse
Productions, who co-financed the film with Miramax. "Halloween"
surpassed "Paranormal Activity 3" ($52.5 million) for the best
debut to date for Blumhouse.
"I am enormously proud of this film," Jason Blum said in a
statement. "'Halloween' brings the franchise back to life in a
fresh, relevant and fun way that is winning over fans and
critics alike." Universal's "Halloween" is the 11th installment
in the series, five of which have starred Jamie Lee Curtis as
iconic avenging babysitter Laurie Strode, who is now a
grandmother in the newest take. "Halloween" is now Curtis'
biggest opening to date, as well as the best horror opening with
a female lead. It's also the biggest launch ever with a female
lead over 55 years old.
Carpenter returned to executive produce and compose the score
for the R-rated thriller. The follow-up has garnered some of the
best reviews for a series entry yet. While the last few
iterations have been panned, "Halloween" holds a 80 percent
average on Rotten Tomatoes and a B+ CinemaScore.
Meanwhile, Fox expanded YA drama "The Hate U Give" to 2,303
screens. It picked up a solid $7.5 million, taking its total
earnings to $10.5 million.
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October's box office receipts continue to impress as "Venom" and "A
Star Is Born" deliver healthy numbers in their third outings. After
"Venom's" two-week reign atop domestic box office charts, Sunday
estimates show Sony's superhero movie led by Tom Hardy was narrowly
defeated by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper's "A Star Is Born" for
second place. "A Star Is Born" pocketed another $19.3 million, while
"Venom" follows close behind with $18.1 million for solid domestic
totals of $126 million and $171 million, respectively.
"Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween" also cashed in on the spooky
spirit, picking up $9.7 million to land in fourth place. That brings
its North American tally to $28 million. Rounding out the top five
is Universal's "First Man," which notched $8.5 million this weekend
for a total of $30 million. Damien Chazelle's space epic, which
holds a $60 million price tag, dropped roughly 46 percent in its
second frame.
At the specialty box office, Jonah Hill's directorial debut,
"Mid90s" secured the best screen average this weekend with a massive
$62,375 from four theaters, a total of $249,000. A24's coming-of-age
skateboarding drama expands nationwide next weekend.
Elsewhere, Fox Searchlight's "Can You Ever Forgive Me?," starring
Melissa McCarthy, generated $150,000 when it opened in five
locations, averaging a huge $30,000 per screen.
Another surprisingly strong showing puts October 54.5 percent ahead
of the same frame last year, as well as 12 percent ahead of 2014's
record month, according to comScore. The 2018 box office remains up
10.6 percent compared to the previous year.
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