Halloween Kills It at the Box Office, Not So Much at Peacock

Halloween Kills It at the Box Office, Not So Much at Peacock

Looks like Michael Myers can’t be stopped, in either Haddonfield or in real life. Halloween Kills released on Friday both in theatres and on Peacock in the US, and absolutely dominated at the box office with a $US55 ($74) million take. Most of it came from North America and its love for Jamie Lee Curtis and John Carpenter, and the $US50 ($67) million debut came above original expectations.

Though Myers was able to eliminate competition like No Time to Die in North America, internationally, he was no match for the tentacles and tongue of Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Andy Serkis and Tom Hardy’s monster Marvel flick is continuing to break pandemic records with an international weekend take of $US115.6 ($156) million. Currently at $US283.6 ($382) million, it’s well on its way to breaking $US300 ($404) million. It still hasn’t released in China yet, which is partially why we even have a sequel to the movie in the first place.

Kills’ success is good for the box office, which has gotten some reliable franchise hitters in recent months, but probably not comforting news for Peacock. When Jungle Cruise had its dual release back in the summer and a pretty solid box office, Disney was quick to send out emails touting its success. NBCUniversal’s been pretty quiet about its viewership numbers, which says everything about their plan to put the movie on their streaming service. Still, the option to see it from the comfort of your home is there.

Either way, the second act of director David Gordon Green’s horror reboot has a pretty solid start for itself. Universal and Blumhouse likely feel smart about making this a trilogy in 2019, whose final instalment will release in 2022 with Halloween Ends. But Dune is coming out next week in theatres and on HBO Max, so now it’s time to see if Michael can survive a big arse space worm. (Dude’s survived a lot of injuries throughout his life, so he probably can.)

Halloween Kills will release in Australian cinemas on October 28.