Weekend Box Office (October 19 - 21, 2018)
THIS WEEKEND With what just may be the second largest opening weekend of all-time for any horror movie, a genre fan parade will show up at multiplexes from coast to coast thanks to the highly anticipated arrival of the fright sequel Halloween which brings Jamie Lee Curtis back to the franchise for the first time in 16 years.
All the stars are aligning for box office gold here. The series is still beloved, the star has returned for one final (?) showdown, the release is just two weeks before the titular holiday when fans will be in the right mood, Blumhouse's horror brand name will add some shine, and as a cherry on top, reviews from critics have been terrific. Advance sales are red hot and pacing above The Nun from last month which generated a $53.8M debut. That amount was astonishing for any fright flick. Turnout from females will really send the numbers soaring.
The marketing push from Universal has been solid on this latest R-rated entry. Venom will provide the only competition for those in need of a scare and it will weaken more as it enters its third round. Invading over 3,900 theaters, Halloween might capture about $73M this weekend.
A Star is Born will try to hold onto the number two spot for a third weekend in a row as the Cooper-Gaga hit has been showing durable legs, even taking over the number one slot each day this week. A 35% decline would put Warners at about $18M pushing the cume to $124M.
Look for a bigger drop for Venom which should experience some competition from Halloween with audiences looking for a scary and violent thrill ride this weekend. Sony may see a 55% slide to around $16M lifting the domestic tally to $169M as the global haul rises north of $450M.
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LAST YEAR Tyler Perry scored another October holiday hit for the second year in a row with Boo 2! A Madea Halloween which debuted at number one with $21.2M. Lionsgate went on to finish at $47.3M. The disaster flick Geostorm disappointed in North America with a $13.7M opening on its way to a $33.7M final for Warner Bros., though international markets generated substantially more. Holdovers followed with Happy Death Day at $9.4M and Blade Runner 2049 at $7.4M. Only The Brave premiered with only $6M for Sony ending up at $18.3M.
This column is updated three times each week: Thursday (upcoming weekend's summary), Sunday (post-weekend analysis with estimates), and Monday night (actuals). Opinions expressed in this column are those solely of the author.
Last Updated: October 18, 2018 at 3:35PM ET
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