It may have fallen just short of Venom’s recently-set October record, but Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions will certainly be celebrating this weekend as the new Halloween enjoyed a killer $91.2 million worldwide opening.
Domestically, Michael Myers’ latest outing – his first since Rob Zombie’s Halloween II in 2009 – grossed $77.5 million, smashing the previous franchise best of $26.4 million for the 2007 reboot, as well as given Blumhouse its biggest opening weekend (a record previously held by Paranormal Activity 3 on $52.5 million).
The $10 million-budgeted reboot also the delivered second-biggest opening weekend for an R-rated horror movie after last year’s Stephen King adaptation It, which opened to $12.4 million last September.
Internationally, Halloween opened in 23 markets (albeit only three majors), adding a further $14.3 million for a worldwide haul of $91.8 million. That topples the $80.3 million total of Zombie’s 2007 reboot to make it the highest-grossing instalment of the slasher series (although taking inflation into account, it still trails John Carpenter’s 1978 original and 1998’s Halloween: H20).
“I am enormously proud of this film,” said Blumhouse chief Jason Blum. “Halloween brings the franchise back to life in a fresh, relevant and fun way that is winning over fans and critics alike.”
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Master of horror John Carpenter will executive produce and serve as creative consultant on this film, joining forces with cinema’s current leading producer of horror, Jason Blum (Get Out, Split, The Purge, Paranormal Activity). Inspired by Carpenter’s classic, filmmakers David Gordon Green and Danny McBride crafted a story that carves a new path from the events in the landmark 1978 film, and Green also directs.
Halloween is directed by David Gordon Green from a script by Green and Danny McBride. In addition to the returning Jamie Lee Curtis (Laurie Strode) and Nick Castle (Michael Myers), the film stars Judy Greer (War for the Planet of the Apes), Andi Matichak (Orange Is the New Black), Will Patton (Shots Fired), Virginia Gardner (Runaways), Miles Robbins (Mozart in the Jungle), Dylan Arnold (Mudbound) and Drew Scheid (Stranger Things).
