Weekend Box Office: Michael Myers Takes On Gerard Butler


Lionsgate

With the exception of Lionsgate, most major studios weren’t interested in releasing a movie on the weekend before Halloween, which is typically soft at the box office with would-be moviegoers attending Halloween parties or staying at home to watch the World Series. Alas, Lionsgate’s Hunter Killer starring Gerard Butler was no competition at all for the second weekend of Halloween, which managed to secure $31 million for moviegoers.

Coming off a $76 million opening weekend, $31.8 million is a damn fine hold for a horror film, as most others are typically front-loaded. This one fell only 58 percent, as Halloween has now put up a whopping $126 million after 10 days. That makes it the third highest-grossing film produced by Jason Blum, behind Get Out ($176 million) and Split ($138 million), and already ahead of Paranormal Activity ($107 million). Receipts will likely drop off considerably after Halloween with stiffer competition next weekend, but Halloween should end its run ahead of Split and likely just short of Get Out. It’s worth noting, again, that Halloween only cost $10 million to produce.

The second and third place positions are unchanged from last week, and the figures for A Star is Born and Venom didn’t drop that much, either, raking in $14 million and $10.2 million, respectively. The totals for those two films after four weeks are $148 million and $186 million. One of those movies is headed to the Oscars; the other is headed toward a sequel.

Fourth place goes to Gerard Butler’s aforementioned Hunter Killer, which was rejected by critics (36 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), but well-liked by the relatively few people who attended the film (it received an A- Cinemascore). It only earned $6.65 million for its opening weekend, but Hunter Killer was never going to do particularly well in North America. Gerard Butler is apparently a much bigger star overseas, where his movies can generate healthy box-office returns despite flopping here. Geostorm, for instance, earned $187 million overseas compared to its $33 million haul stateside; London Has Fallen earned $62 million here and $143 million there; and God’s of Egypt bombed in America with only $31 million but did much better overseas with $119 million (at a cost of $140 million, Gods of Egypt still wound up in the red). Hunter Killer may not play well in America, but it is expected to do well across the pond, and Gerard Butler is paid handsomely for it. (He earned a reported $10 million for this film.)

A24

Holdovers filled out the rest of the top ten during a slower weekend, outside of Jonah Hill’s directorial debut Mid90s, which fared decently by earning $3.7 million in only 1200 theaters. Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween, meanwhile, took the five spot, earning $6.9 million to bring its three-week total to $37.9 million. The Hate U Give earned $4.8 million and has earned a tidy $18 million, so far (and should garner an Oscar nom for Russell Hornsby).

First Man continues to struggle, earning $4.7 million in its third weekend to bring its total haul to $37.6 million. Smallfoot has captured $72.3 million in receipts after a $4.4 million weekend. Finally, Night School clung to the top ten for one more week, earning $3.2 million to push its total to $71 million. With that, the Tiffany Haddish/Kevin Hart film surpasses Game Night to become the biggest comedy of 2018 at the box office.

It’s worth noting (barely) that two other new entries also opened outside the top ten. Rowan Atkinson is back with Johnny English Strikes Again, which opened with only $1.5 million (but, like Hunter Killer, is far more dependent upon international success), while the faith-based Indivisible scored $1.6 million.

We should see some big numbers at next weekend’s box office. Tyler Perry’s latest, Nobody’s Fool, touts Tiffany Haddish as its lead. It will, nevertheless, fall behind Bohemian Rhapsody and The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, which will likely compete for the top spot. Early reviews, however, may sink the Queen biopic.

Source: Deadline, Box Office Mojo

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