FRIDAY MIDDAY UPDATE: As of this minute, Halloween Ends isn’t looking as super as the forecasts had predicted — meaning in the $50M range. Still, at a $43M opening, it’s not shabby for a film that cost $30M. Remember, it is a threequel. Universal can brag that it’s the sixth year in a row (8th time) that the studio has had a No. 1 opening with a horror movie after 2017’s Get Out, 2018’s Halloween, 2019’s Us, 2020’s Freaky, 2021’s Candyman and Halloween Kills and this year’s Nope and Halloween Ends.
Today, including last night’s $5.4M previews, looks to be $20M at 3,901 theaters, just 12% under Halloween Kills’ first day. Maybe there will be a West Coast or late night bump, but that’s what the numbers are looking like as of now against historical comps of Halloween and Halloween Kills. The last Michael Myers movie posted a 24% Friday/previews-to-Saturday decline.
RelishMix on social media saw nothing but blue skies for Halloween Ends, saying that chatter spins positive about the film’s title, Halloween Ends, as they assume it’s a teaser for the future of the franchise, noting that “Michael Myers can never die because of his immortality.”
As well, the trick or treat iconography of the brand since Halloween first dropped 44 years ago when Curtis was a teenager is resonating. Super fans are also calling-out the film’s creator John Carpenter who composed this sequel.
Total social media reach is 146.5M across YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter which is lower than the 2018 title which was near 193M, and about the same for Halloween Kills at 147M. Curtis and Kyle Richards lead among the cast with social media outreach at 7.8M and 6.3M.
Curtis confirmed in writing on Jimmy Kimmel that Halloween Ends is her last Halloween film…
Maybe Paramount’s Smile is stealing some of the business: The third weekend of the Parker Finn horror movie is only expected to ease 37% for $11.75M and a running total of $70.5M. Friday is $3.6M, -32%, at 3,612 theaters.
The second weekend of Sony’s Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile is in third place with a $1.9M Friday, -48% and 3-day of $7M at 4,350 theaters, -47%, and ten day of $22.4M.
Fourth is TriStar’s The Woman King at 2,565 theaters and a 5th Friday of $933K, -29%, $3.5M weekend, -32% for a running total of $56.6M.
Fifth place is New Regency/20th Century Studios/Disney’s Amsterdam at 3,005 for a $900K Friday, -66% and second weekend of $2.9M, -55% and ten-day of $11.9M.
FRIDAY AM UPDATE: Universal’s release of Blumhouse, Miramax and Trancas’ Halloween Ends saw a Thursday night of $5.4M from 3,200 theaters with showtimes beginning at 5 p.m. That figure is +11% from last year’s Halloween Kills‘ previews, which were $4.85M.
RELATED: ‘Halloween Ends’ Review: Jamie Lee Curtis Promises This Is It For Her And Michael Myers – Really??
The third Halloween movie from David Gordon Green in a subset trilogy within the franchise is set to make around $55M this weekend at 3,901 theaters. Halloween Ends cost $30M before P&A. The pic wasn’t exclusive to theaters for one night before also hitting streaming service Peacock on the paid subscriber tier; it became available at 8 pm ET, Deadline has just learned. Again, it’s not that Universal doesn’t have any faith in theatrical, Peacock at 15M paid subscribers and needs more. Similar to Halloween Kills, which Uni also pulled this theatrical day-and-date on, the studio has bought out the creative players’ backends, making them whole as though the movie was a tentpole hit given the pivot to Peacock.
Green’s first Halloween movie back in 2018, which brought back an older and wiser Laurie Strode played by Jamie Lee Curtis, is the best-grossing of the trio with $7.7M in Thursday night previews, a $33M opening Friday and $76.2M first weekend, which was exclusively theatrical. That movie also was the fourth-best opening for the month of October and, more amazingly, electrified what was typically a dead zone for films in the latter part of the month.
Last year, Uni went theatrical day-and-date on Halloween Kills out of caution for moviegoers during the pandemic, and also to spike Peacock subs. The pic posted the best opening for a horror film during the pandemic and the second best for a day-and-date title (after Black Widow‘s $80M) with $49.4M after a $4.85M Thursday previews, which repped 21% of the pic’s $22.8M first Friday.
Critics largely liked Green’s 2018 Halloween at 79% on Rotten Tomatoes, with audiences giving it a B+. However, film reviewers have turned their backs on the sequels, giving Halloweens Kills and Halloween Ends respective 39% and 47% Rotten grades. Auds gave Halloween Kills a B- CinemaScore (average grades for a genre movie are between a B and a C+).
Opening limited this weekend is United Artists Releasing/Eon’s Chinonye Chukwu-directed drama Till at 16 locations in five markets. The movie about Emmett Till’s mother, who vows to expose the racism behind his 1955 lynching, stands at 100% off 43 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes in the wake of its New York Film Festival world premiere. Till will expand to additional markets and theaters in coming weeks.
‘Till’ NYFF Review: Chinonye Chukwu Handles The Emmett Till Story With Care
Among those films in regular release, Paramount’s horror pic Smile grossed an estimated $1.5M yesterday, -8% from Wednesday at 3,659 putting its two-week running total at $58.6M after a $26.4M second week. The movie is expected to ease 55% in its third go-round.
Sony’s family animated/live-action title Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile ends its first week with $15.4M at 4,350 theaters. Thursday was an estimated $700K, +16% from Wednesday.
New Regency/20th Century Studios/Disney’s David O. Russell period comedy, Amsterdam, which is set to lose as much as $100M, ended its first week with $9M at 3,005 theaters. Thursday was around $440K, -15% from Wednesday.
RELATED: Peter Bart: An Autopsy Of DOA ‘Amsterdam’ Reveals Worries For Other Grownup Fall Releases
Booked at 3,342 theaters, TriStar’s The Woman King ends its fourth week with $7.2M, for a running total of $56M after a $420K Thursday, +10% from Wednesday at 3,342.
New Line’s Don’t Worry Darling saw a third week of $5.2M at 3,324, a $40.2M running total after a $365K Thursday, -2% from Wednesday.