There were plenty of both tricks and treats to be had in the weekend leading up to Halloween at the North America box office. Universal’s horror smash Halloween continued its winning ways while a trio of new arrivals – Hunter Killer, Indivisible and Johnny English Strikes Again– flopped right out of the gate.
Thanks to the continued strong runs of Halloween, A Star Is Born and Venom, the top ten surged 59% this weekend over one year ago at this time when Jigsaw opened to a tepid $22 million.
The new Halloween scared up an estimated $32 million in its second session on 3,990 screens. This weekend’s gross for the David Gordon Green flick represents a 58% decrease from its massive debut one week ago, a hold that is actually quite strong for this genre. After only ten days, the $10 million production has banked $126.7 million.
Halloween should begin a quick fade once the actual holiday comes and goes this upcoming Wednesday. Depending on how fast that decline occurs, the return of Michael Myers might wind down with approximately $170 million. An additional $45 million has come in from international markets.
Another week, another second place finish for A Star Is Born. Warner’s acclaimed musical drama dropped only 26% in its fourth weekend on 3,904 screens to bring in an estimated $14.1 million. One month in, A Star Is Born has scored an excellent $148.7 million from North America alone. Given the film’s box office legs thus far, Star should finish at or very near the $200 million mark. The future awards contender has also earned $105 million from overseas markets.
Hanging tough in third place for the second week in a row was Sony’s Venom with an estimated $10.8 million from 3,567 theaters. Down only 40%, the Marvel antihero has brought in a muscular $187 million. Venom could finish its domestic campaign somewhere between $210-215 million. On the international market, Venom has banked $321 million so far. That number should soon soar once it opens in Japan and China over the next two weeks.
Another Sony feature, Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween, is making the most of the weekend before All Hallows Eve. The family flick lost only 22% of its weekend crowds earning an estimated $7.5 million from 3,723 screens to land in fourth place. The new domestic total for Haunted Halloween is $38.3 million.
Pity Gerard Butler. It seems his films can’t get a break during the month of October. Last year, the actor headlined the hilariously awful Warner bomb Geostorm. This year, it’s the action thriller Hunter Killer. The Lionsgate release launched on 2,720 screens Friday where it was quickly sunk by awful reviews and a dismal $6.6 million debut.
Hunter Killer wasn’t the only new film to flop right out of the gate. Universal quietly dumped Johnny English Strikes Again into 544 theaters, where it mustered a weak $1.6 million. Given the fact that the film has earned over $100 million internationally, I’m sure the weak start for Strikes Again isn’t weighing too heavy on Universal’s mind.
Meanwhile, Pure Flix scored its fourth flop this year courtesy of its third religious flick of the year, the drama Indivisible. The poorly reviewed film found itself without a prayer way down in 13th place with a damning $1.5 million from 830 theaters.
- The Hate U Give (Fox) $5.1 million (-33%); $18.3 million
- First Man (Universal) $4.9 million (-40%); $38 million
- Smallfoot (Warner) $4.7 million (-28%); $72.5 million
- Night School (2018) (Universal) $3.2 million (-33%); $71.4 million
- Mid90s (A24) $3 million; $3.3 million
A24 expanded Jonah Hill’s acclaimed directorial debut into 1,206 theaters this weekend to mixed results. Either the studio expanded it on the wrong weekend or people simply didn’t care.
The month of November kicks off with the Friday releases of Fox’s Bohemian Rhapsody, Disney’s The Nutcracker and the Four Realms and the 800th Tiffany Haddish film this year, Nobody’s Fool. Bohemian Rhapsody should capture the number one spot.
