‘Halloween’ is on a hair-raising roll
No. 1 at the box office a second straight week.
NEW YORK – Michael Myers – or is it Jamie Lee Curtis? – can’t be stopped. “Halloween” dominated the North American box office for the second straight weekend, carving up an estimated $32 million in ticket sales.
The top four films were unchanged, according to Sunday estimates, as Hollywood left “Halloween” to dominate the pre-trick-or-treating weekend. The sequel to John Carpenter’s 1978 original, starring 59-year-old Curtis as Laurie Strode, last week notched the biggest opening ever for a film with a female lead older than 55.
The new “Halloween” already is the biggest film in the franchise’s history and one of the highest-grossing slasher films ever, with $126.7 million in ticket sales (plus another $45.6 million internationally) on just a $10 million budget. The latest installment, directed by David Gordon Green, slid a relatively modest 58 percent – especially good for a horror release – after setting a record for an October debut last weekend.
Bradley Cooper’s lauded “A Star Is Born” remained in second place with $14 million in its fourth weekend. The film, starring Cooper and Lady Gaga, has grossed $148.7 million domestically while proving an equally strong seller overseas. It has made $104.6 million internationally.
Superhero spinoff “Venom” also stuck in third with $10.8 million in its fourth weekend. The comic-book adaptation, starring Tom Hardy, has grossed $504.8 million worldwide.
“Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween,” the kid-friendly sequel based on the R.L. Stine books, finished fourth with $7.5 million in its third weekend.
That trio of “Halloween,” ”Venom” and “A Star Is Born” has driven the October box office to a new high. With a few days to go, monthly ticket sales already have surpassed the record of $757.1 million from 2014, according to comScore, with $789.9 million in sales in October – traditionally a fairly sleepy month in movie theaters.
The submarine thriller “Hunter Killer,” starring Gerard Butler, Gary Oldman and Common, was deep-sixed with $6.7 million. Like previous Butler-led action films including “Den of Thieves,” ”Geostorm,” ”London Has Fallen” and “Gods of Egypt,” ”Hunter Killer” received poor reviews (36 percent “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes).
After a promising limited release last weekend, Jonah Hill’s directorial debut, the coming-of-age skateboarding drama “Mid90s,” took in a mediocre $3 million in slightly more than 1,200 theaters. The Christian war film drama “Indivisible” took in $1.6 million on 830 screens.
One new bright spot was Luca Guadagnino’s remake of the horror classic “Suspiria.” Opening in just two theaters, it took in a very strong per-screen average of $89,903, a good start for Guadagnino’s follow-up to his awards film “Call Me By Your Name.”
Final numbers are expected Monday.