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 Universal and Blumhouse's slasher film starring Jamie Lee Curtis
picked up another $32 million, marking a 58 percent decline from
its impressive debut. Directed by David Gordon Green,
"Halloween" crossed $100 million on Friday. The movie pocketed
$25 million overseas for a total of $172 million worldwide.
Holdovers "A Star Is Born" and "Venom" also remained in the top
five. Warner Bros.' "A Star Is Born" landed in second place with
$14 million, dropping just 26 percent in its fourth outing. Lady
Gaga and Bradley's musical drama has earned $148 million. The
acclaimed movie hit $100 million at the international box office
for a global total of $253.2 million. Meanwhile, "Venom," Sony's
dark superhero film with Tom Hardy, came in third with $10.8
million. That brings its domestic tally to $187 million for a
worldwide cume of $508.4 million.
Otherwise, studios generally steered clear of the pre-Halloween
frame. Lionsgate and Summit's "Hunter Killer," a high-stakes
thriller starring Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman, was the only
wide release. It wasn't able to beat "Goosebumps 2: Haunted
Halloween" as Sony's family friendly flick came in fourth place
with $7.5 million.
"Hunter Killer" was, at least, able to round out the top five
with $6.65 million when it opened in 2,720 locations. The
audience, which was predominately male and over the age of 25,
gave the film an A- CinemaScore. Critics were far less generous
with a Rotten Tomatoes average of 36 percent.
This weekend's other new offerings failed to stir up much
interest. Pure Flix's faith-based war drama "Indivisible" fell
flat, earning just $1.5 million in 830 theaters.
Elsewhere, Universal's "Johnny English Strikes Again" pocketed a
meager $1.6 million from 544 screens. An underwhelming
performance in the States might not matter considering the movie
is virtually engineered for international audiences. The third
installment in the Rowan Atkinson-led British spy series
launched earlier this month overseas, where it has already
earned $107 million.
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In limited release, Amazon Studios nabbed the highest screen average
of the year as Luca Guadagnino's horror remake "Suspiria" with
Dakota Johnson and Tilda Swinton generated $179,806 from just two
locations, or $89,903 per venue.
Does the strong pre-holiday showing mean studios should reconsider
sitting out the Halloween weekend? A lot depends on the product, and
the "Halloween" sequel hit all the right elements for success -- a
timely theme, a beloved property and solid execution.
"It is quite appropriate that a movie called 'Halloween' would
deliver a sweet box office treat to the industry that typically
suffers a slowdown on this particular weekend," said Paul
Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst with comScore. "Universal
picked a perfect release date, inspiring nostalgia and excitement
among moviegoers looking for the perfect film to complement their
Halloween weekend plans."
This weekend was up 37.6 percent over the same frame last year when
"Jigsaw" led the domestic box office, according to comScore. As the
month winds to a close, October officially hit a new record in North
America. The month was up over 50 percent from the same frame in
2017. This year's period brought in $789 million, which was enough
to top the benchmark previously set by 2014 with $757 million.
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