“Halloween” will not only take home the box office crown in its debut weekend, but may also break “Venom’s” recently-set record for best October opening of all time.
Universal’s reboot, starring Jamie Lee Curtis, is heading for an estimated $80 million from 3,928 North American locations in its first weekend. It’ll have to outpace “Venom’s” $80.255 million opening three weeks ago to beat the October record.
The Sony film, meanwhile, will battle with Warner Bros.’ “A Star Is Born” for the No. 2 slot, with each projected to earn around $17 million in their third frames. That would bring “Venom’s” domestic total to $170.02 million and land “A Star Is Born” at about $129 million.
John Carpenter’s original “Halloween” earned $47 million throughout its entire run on a production budget of $325,000. MGM’s 2007 remake of “Halloween,” written and directed by Rob Zombie, had the highest debut before Universal’s latest iteration, with $26 million on its way to a $80 million run worldwide.
“Halloween” picks up 40 years after the events of the 1978 film, in a world where none of the events of the following films in the franchise took place. Curtis’ Laurie Strode is now a grandmother, but has spent her life haunted by the events of Halloween 1978, constantly preparing for Michael Myers’ return. David Gordon Green directed the film from a script he co-wrote with Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley.
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Another Halloween-timed release, “Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween,” should take in around $9.7 million in its third weekend, bringing its tally to $28.84 million.
The second weekend of Ryan Gosling’s “First Man” is looking to add $8 million to its current domestic take of $23.9 million. Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land” follow up debuted to a disappointing $16 million last weekend, and the Universal drama still has a ways to go if it wants to overcome its $59 million production budget.
Fox’s “The Hate U Give” is expanding by around 2,000 theaters this weekend, which should add about $8 million to its total and slot it in at No. 6. Amandla Stenberg stars in the film, based on Angie Thomas’ book and directed by George Tillman Jr. The drama, which began its limited release Oct. 5, has already amassed $5.6 million.
“The Old Man & the Gun” added 574 theaters to its run this weekend and is looking to land at no. 10 with about $2.3 million. The Fox film, purported to be Robert Redford’s last, is based on a New Yorker article about a real-life 70-year-old bank robber. Casey Affleck, Danny Glover, Tika Sumpter, Tom Waits, and Sissy Spacek also star in the film, which was directed by David Lowery from his own script. Beginning its limited release Sept. 28, “The Old Man & the Gun” has earned about $2.8 million.
The specialty box office is debuting four films this weekend: Jonah Hill’s directorial debut “mid90s,” Melissa McCarthy’s “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”, Paul Dano’s “Wildlife” and Bleecker Street’s family drama “What They Had.”
A24’s coming-of-age comedy drama “Mid90s” is opening at four theaters and stars Sunny Suljic as Stevie, a 13-year-old boy living in Los Angeles, as he becomes involved with a group of kids who skateboard. Hill wrote and directed the film, which also stars Lucas Hedges and Katherine Waterston.
“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”, from Fox Searchlight, follows McCarthy as Lee Israel, a real-life literary forger, and is based off Israel’s confessional memoir. Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty adapted the book for the screen, with Marielle Heller directing. The film is opening at five theaters to estimates of around $135,000.
Michael Shannon, Hilary Swank, Taissa Farmiga, Robert Forster, Blythe Danner, and Josh Lucas star in “What They Had,” which follows Swank’s character, who must return home to help her father transition her mother into a nursing home as her Alzheimer’s worsens. Elizabeth Chomko directed from her own script.
“Wildlife” marks Dano’s directorial debut, and follows a family headed by Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal, seen through the eyes of the pair’s son. Dano co-wrote the script with Zoe Kazan. The IFC Films feature is releasing at four theaters.
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