After a year-long delay, Halloween Kills has finally made its way to theatres in brutal fashion. The slasher sequel made $4.9 million in its Thursday night preview showings and it is on track to make $35-40 million in its opening weekend. This might seem like a massive drop-off when compared to 2018's Halloween, which made $77 million in its opening weekend, but given that movie fans are still getting comfortable going back to the movies, Universal Studios and Blumhouse Productions have to be pleased with this result. Add on top of that, when you compare that to Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel, which is looking to make only $10 million in its opening weekend, Halloween Kills is scaring its way towards a dominant three days at the box office.
Another factor contributing to the lower numbers is the day and date release on NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service. In a move similar to HBO Max, Universal Studios is releasing this highly anticipated slasher sequel on the streamer simultaneously with its theatrical release. Given that the world is still continuing to recover from the pandemic, this move is understandable.
In a previous interview with Collider leading up to Halloween Kills' release, producer Jason Blum stated that the day-and-date streaming drop "was my idea. [Peacock] didn’t approach me."
Blum would go on to contribute 2020 body swap horror-comedy Freaky towards his final decision, saying, "I think Universal's strategy of the three-week window is a great strategy, but I had a bad distribution experience with Freaky." Said film was released in the height of the pandemic last December and it remains to be seen if this hybrid approach pays off for both studios. With the crowded October release schedule that includes the new James Bond film No Time to Die in its second weekend, and given that Denis Villeneuve’s highly anticipated adaptation of Dune releases next week, it will be interesting to see how Halloween Kills fares moving forward.
Continuing the legacy of the John Carpenter classic, Halloween Kills takes place seconds after the 2018 reboot and follows Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) as she deals with the fact that Michael Myers is not dead. However, this time the whole town of Haddonfield is determined to fight back with her. This second part of the new sequel trilogy concludes next year with Halloween Ends and stars Curtis as well as Kyle Richards, Andi Matichak, Anthony Michael Hall, Judy Greer, Dylan Arnold, Nancy Stevens, and Charles Cyphers.
Halloween Kills is now in theatres and streaming on Peacock.