The re-release of a 30 year-old cult classic knocks the sequels from a pair of billion-dollar franchises down a peg at the box office

Re-releasing 30 year-old cult classics and watching them knock blockbuster-sized sequels from massive franchises off their perch apparently seems to be the new in thing, with The Nightmare Before Christmas becoming the second in quick succession to achieve what’s fast becoming a common occurrence.

It was only a couple of weeks ago that Hocus Pocus celebrated its milestone anniversary by hopping back onto its broom, flying into theaters, and booting disastrous bomb EXPEND4BLES out of the domestic Top 10, but Henry Selick and Tim Burton’s beloved favorite has gone several steps better than that.

A $4.1 million haul from 1650 screens was enough to propel The Nightmare Before Christmas into fifth place, which is no mean feat. Not only that, but a pair of big-name sequels each hailing from a billion-dollar saga were knocked down a peg or two in its wake, with The Exorcist: Believer the only spooky spectacular that didn’t feel the wrath of Jack Skellington.

Of course, you can make the argument that Saw X and The Nun II have already made the majority of their money considering their worldwide running totals stand at $78 million and an eye-popping $263 million respectively, but that doesn’t make it any less impressive that stop-motion title that performed modestly back in October of 1993 pushed them down in the pecking order.

Jurassic Park also made waves when it returned to multiplexes this summer, so maybe there’s still time for a few more 1993 phenomenons to hop on the bandwagon looking at how successful it’s been.