‘Halloween’ kills at the US box office, sets new horror record

Now in second place is Paramount’s ‘A Quiet Place Part II,’ which managed to generate a whopping $47.5 million back in May as one of the first highly touted theatrical-exclusive releases amid the ongoing public health emergency. ‘Halloween Kills’ also easily surpassed Warner Bros.’ ‘The Suicide Squad’ as the highest-grossing R-rated movie to launch during the pandemic; the DC antihero film opened to $26 million in August.

In addition to its theatrical release, ‘Halloween Kills’ debuted simultaneously on NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service, which likely stunted its US domestic box office performance to some degree — though clearly not as significantly as projected. Total subscribers for Peacock have not been publicly divulged, but it is known that active accounts for the service’s premium tier rank far behind Netflix, Disney+, Hulu and HBO Max.

“Despite the fact that this movie was available on Peacock with a relatively modest buy-in — for this movie to earn over $50 million is a real testament to that movie theater experience and how singular, essential and [irreplaceable] it is,” said Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst at Comscore.

“Because it’s a horror film and an iconic franchise, [people] opted in for that communal experience.”

Stacked up against its 11 predecessors, the latest entry in the gory saga is only second to 2018’s ‘Halloween’ in terms of domestic box office performance. That recent installment also exceeded industry expectations, opening to $76.2 million across North American markets.

Directed by David Gordon Green, the slasher sequel sees Jamie Lee Curtis reprise her seminal final-girl role as Laurie Strode — on the hunt once again for her masked, serial-killer arch nemesis Michael Myers (Nick Castle). Rounding out the main cast are Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Thomas Mann, Anthony Michael Hall and ‘The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ star Kyle Richards.

By contrast, 20th Century Studios’ ‘The Last Duel’ tanked at the North American box office this weekend, earning a measly $4.8 million despite its “certified fresh” 86 per cent rating on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes and a respectable B+ from audiences polled by CinemaScore. (‘Halloween Kills’ scored a dismal 39 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes and a mediocre B- CinemaScore.)

Directed by Ridley Scott, ‘The Last Duel’, out in UAE cinemas, unites industry heavyweights Jodie Comer, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Adam Driver for a R-rated historical epic set in 14th-century France.

The Oscar-bait period drama just barely edged out Disney and Marvel’s ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ — which grossed $3.5 million in its seventh weekend — for fifth place. The disappointing performance of ‘The Last Duel’ could be viewed as an ominous sign for the flock of awards season contenders scheduled to open in November and December. The older demographics who typically fuel those grosses still appear to be more reluctant to return to theaters.

Also coming off an underwhelming weekend at the US domestic box office is No. 2 ‘No Time to Die,’ which earned $24.3 million in its sophomore weekend for a North American cumulative of $99.5 million. The 56 per cent drop is steeper than those of the previous two James Bond films, as well as other big franchise releases.

But internationally, Daniel Craig’s final performance as 007 amassed an additional $54 million for a massive global cumulative of $447.5 million. Also worth noting is that United Artists Releasing’s ‘No Time to Die’ is on track to become the ninth movie of the year to accrue more than $100 million at the domestic box office.

Though both the ‘Halloween’ and Bond franchises date back several decades, their divergent target demographics have merited different rates of success. Thanks to their horror genre, ‘Halloween’ movies generally appeal to younger and more diverse moviegoers, who tend to come out in droves on opening weekend, Dergarabedian said.

Bond films, on the other hand, typically perform better among more mature audiences that are less likely to rush theaters all at once.

“One of the greatest things that happened for movie theaters is the continued allure and appeal of the horror movies,” Dergarabedian added.

Landing at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, this weekend are Sony and Marvel’s ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage,’ which collected $16.5 million at the domestic box office for a North American cumulative of $168.1 million; and UAR’s ‘The Addams Family 2,’ which picked up $7.2 million for a North American cumulative of $42.3 million.