Halloween makes a killing at box office
Forty years after he first appeared in theatres, Michael Myers is still drawing huge audiences for a good scare. Universal Pictures said Sunday that Halloween took in an estimated $77.5 million (U.S.) in ticket sales from North American theatres.
It captured first place at the box office with the secondhighest horror opening of all time, behind last year’s It.
The studio also says it’s the biggest movie opening ever with a female lead over 55, in star Jamie Lee Curtis.
David Gordon Green directed Halloween, which brings back Curtis as Laurie Strode and Nick Castle as Michael Myers and essentially ignores the events of the other sequels and spinoffs of John Carpenter’s original.
The new film cost only $10 million to make. Halloween was enough to bump the comic-book film Venomout of the No. 1 spot and into third place. Meanwhile, the Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga drama A Star Is Born held on to second in its third weekend.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to comScore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday. 1. Halloween, $77.5 million. 2. A Star Is Born, $19.3 million. 3. Venom, $18.1 million. 4. Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween, $9.7 million. 5. First Man, $8.6 million. 6. The Hate U Give, $7.5 million. 7. Smallfoot, $6.6 million. 8. Night School, $5 million. 9. Bad Times At The El Royale, $3.3 million. 10. The Old Man & The Gun, $2 million.