‘Halloween Ends’ Gets a HUGE Lead in the Box Office

‘Halloween Ends’ gets a big lead at box office with $41 Million, extending the Horror film franchise success.

“Halloween Ends” left the box office competition in the dust, making $41.25 million from only 3,901 North American theaters during its opening weekend.

Join Project Casting to access jobs you can apply to right now.

Although “The Croods: A New Age” didn’t meet early projections of $50-$55 million in ticket sales, opening weekend still pulled in a substantial $40 million. This is the first movie to make more than $40 million since July when Jordan Peele’s “Nope” debuted to great success.

In “Halloween Ends,” Jamie Lee Curtis portrays a grandmother with intense trauma. Some might say that this is the end of the slasher series. However, it seems as if Universal and Blumhouse continue to make money off of these films. It’s doubtful that audiences have seen the last of Michael Myers.

“Halloween Ends” had unexpectedly high competition from Paramount’s “Smile,” which managed to bring in $12.4 million (a 33% decline) during its three-weekend run. The R-Rated “Smile” has made an impressive $71.1 million in North America and $137 million worldwide, especially considering its production cost was only $17 million. In recent times when movie theaters have struggled to recover from the pandemic, horror movies have continuously succeeded.

“Horror films have been performing extremely well at the box office,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “Young audiences like seeing these movies at a theater.”

But, he adds, “When that kind of success is possible, the greatest value is created by an exclusive theatrical release first, followed by streaming.”

According to NBCUniversal, “Halloween Ends” was Peacock’s most-watched series or film over a two-day period – though the company stopped short of providing any data to contextualize that ambiguous milestone. It’s impossible to know how much money is left on the table with a hybrid release, but it’s significantly less than Netflix, HBO Max, and other streaming rivals.

“Halloween Ends” grossed $17.17 million from just 77 markets internationally, accumulating a global total of ticket sales at $58.42 million.

“It’s great to see Blumhouse again dominate this space,” says Jim Orr, Universal’s president of domestic distribution. “Jamie Lee Curtis is a force of nature, and audiences absolutely love her.” Optimistically, the slasher sequel had the potential to bring in more earnings than its predecessor, “Halloween Kills,” which made $49 million in its opening weekend. This was especially hope-inducing because both movies opened on Peacock at the same time. Instead, “Halloween Ends” landed the lowest debut in the rebooted trilogy, a sign that enthusiasm is starting to diminish.

“Halloween Ends” landed a “C+” Cinema Score, the worst grade of the trilogy. That doesn’t give much hope since “Halloween Kills,” which scored a slightly better “B-,” collapsed by 70% in its second weekend and only garnered $92 million in North America and $131 million globally. In contrast, “Halloween” in 2018 smashed franchise records when it opened to $76.2 million (remember that the theater landscape has changed a lot since then). People loved the movie, and it ended its run by bringing in $159 million domestically and $255 million internationally.

“Despite a ‘C+’ Cinema Score,” says Com score analyst Paul Dergarabedian, “‘Halloween Kills’ has enormous brand equity that could help buoy its prospects moving forward.” He adds, “The bigger question for every movie in the marketplace is the impending debut of ‘Black Adam.'” Dwayne Johnson’s long-awaited DC film adaptation of the comic book antihero premieres in theaters next weekend.

In third place, “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” generated $7.4 million from 4,350 venues, 34% less than its opening weekend. The Sony animated family film has made a lackluster $22.3 million in North America.

“The Woman King,” starring Viola Davis, secured fourth place with $3.7 million from 2,565 venues. The well-reviewed action epic has grossed $59.7 million domestically and $76.5 million worldwide after five weeks in theaters: a strong result for a movie aimed at adult audiences. But given its $50 million price tag, it still has ways to go to turn a comfortable profit in its theatrical run.

David O. Russell’s critically panned movie “Amsterdam” took the 5th spot at the box office this weekend, earning a measly $2.9 million from 3,005 cinemas. This is compared to its catastrophic start last weekend of only $6.5 million. With a budget of $80 million and dismal global earnings of only $18.5 million, “Amsterdam” is shaping to be one of the year’s biggest flops.

Director Chinonye Chukwu’s historical drama “Till” grossed $240,940 from 16 theaters, averaging a strong $15,059 per location. MGM and United Artists Releasing will expand the film to 150 to 200 additional venues next weekend. The film is an emotional look at Emmett Till’s mother’s search for justice.

“Tár,” an awards contender starring Cate Blanchett as a world-famous conductor embroiled in controversy, brought in $360,000 from 36 theaters this weekend. The film has earned $585,000 and plans to continue its slow expansion in the coming weeks.

More Project Casting Entertainment News: 

Netflix Ads: Netflix Reveals Price and Release Date

Netflix announces the release date and price of their upcoming ad-supported streaming service.  The new package is significantly less expensive than the pl…

‘The Gangs of New York’ TV Series Coming Soon with Martin Scorsese Directing

Martin Scorsese to produce and direct ‘The Gangs of New York’ TV series. Martin Scorsese will be working on the television adaptation of Herbert Asbury’s 1927 n…

After Two Decades On The Air, Cartoon Network Is About To End. 

After Two Decades On The Air, Cartoon Network Is About To End.  As part of Warner Bros. Discovery’s consolidation, the studio merged with Warner Bros. Anim…