Halloween Ends is slashing toward a $43 million opening weekend, perhaps once again proving that the franchise has staying power more than four decades after its debut.
The current projection, following $5.4 million in previews, will nab Universal a No. 1 opening with a horror movie, the sixth year in a row that the studio can claim such an honor, Deadline reports.
Still, that $43 million opening is still lower than initial forecasts placing its opening in the mid-$50 million range. Thursday and Friday’s combined box office sales are expected to rake in $20 million. That represents a 12 percent dip when compared to Halloween Kills‘ first day.
The numbers for the opening weekend for Halloween Ends is not yet final, but these estimates may hint that runaway horror hit Smile may be stealing some of the spotlight with its lingering popularity in theaters. As Deadline noted, “The third weekend of the Parker Finn horror movie is only expected to ease 37% for $11.75M and a running total of $70.5M.”
Halloween Ends has received mixed reviews from audiences and critics alike, holding a 41 percent critical score on the review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes. Still, its enduring cred amongst hardcore fans may be drawing them to theaters at any rate due to original director John Carpenter composing the score for the David Gordon Green-directed film and the considerable star-power of the actor who starred in the very first movie back in 1978, Jamie Lee Curtis.
Halloween Ends is playing at a theater near you or on the paid tier of the streaming service Peacock.