Halloween kicked off early this year, as the Universal feature secured a franchise-best opening this weekend.
With an estimated $77.5 million, Halloween, which serves as a sequel to the 1978 John Carpenter classic, slashed the franchise’s best. The previous record? A mere $26 million for the 2007 Rob Zombie reboot of the same name. Along with securing a series best, Halloween also managed to snag the second-best start for an R-rated horror film — that record still belongs to It — as well as the second-highest debut for an October release. That record, of course, belongs to Venom, which opened to $80 million earlier this month.
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Internationally, Halloween went on to earn $14.3 million from 23 markets. While not a huge international opening, it was enough to bring the film’s opening weekend haul to an impressive $91.8 million — something that’s made all the more impressive by the film’s $10 million budget. That’s enough to earn the biggest opening for a Blumhouse production, beating out Paranormal Activity 3‘s $52.5 million opening for the record.
“I am enormously proud of this film,” producer Jason Blum said. “‘Halloween’ brings the franchise back to life in a fresh, relevant and fun way that is winning over fans and critics alike.”
Halloween‘s $77.5 million opening marks Jamie Lee Curtis’ biggest film opening to date, as well as the best horror opening with a female lead and the biggest launch ever with a female lead over 55 years old. This is Curtis’ fifth outing as Laurie Strode and her first series return since 2002’s Halloween: Resurrection. Following the box office results, Curtis tweeted in celebration of the film’s launch, tagging the post with #WomenGetThingsDone.
OK. I’m going for one BOAST post. Biggest horror movie opening with a female lead.
Biggest movie opening with a female lead over 55.
Second biggest October movie opening ever.
Biggest Halloween opening ever #womengetthingsdone @halloweenmovie pic.twitter.com/DhUBy82z3U— Jamie Lee Curtis (@jamieleecurtis) October 21, 2018
While a sequel has yet to be announced, Halloween‘s impressive box office performance all but secures one. So, it’s not entirely surprising that Halloween offers a continuation of Laurie and Michael’s story.
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In theaters now, Halloween is directed by David Gordon Green from a script written with Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley. The film stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, and Andi Matichak with Nick Castle and James Jude Courtney sharing the role of masked killer Michael Myers. The film is executive produced and scored by original filmmaker John Carpenter.
(via Variety)