'Halloween Ends' Debuts Atop Domestic Box Office With $41 Million

Halloween Ends earned $41.3 million to finish atop the domestic box office in its opening weekend, Variety reports.

Billed as the final showdown between Laurie Strode, played by Jamie Lee Curtis, and Michael Myers, the latest installment in the Halloween franchise became the first film since Jordan Peele’s Nope to debut above the $40 million mark. Even though projections were between $50 million to $55 million, the follow-up to last year’s Halloween Kills managed to pull in a respectable sum while also being simultaneously released on the Peacock streaming service.

“The day-and-date model was put to the test again, but I think this is a mandate in favor of the movie theater,” Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian said, per AP. “Audiences had the option to watch it at home but they chose to go to the theater.”

According to NBCUniversal, Halloween Ends became the most-watched series or film of all time over a two-day period on Peacock. The movie amassed an additional $17.17 million internationally to push its worldwide box office to $58.42 million.

Elsewhere, Smile continues to be a surprise hit for Paramount. With a production cost of $17 million, the horror flick has pushed its domestic haul to $71.1 million and $137 million worldwide in just its third week. Dergarabedian mentioned that having two R-rated horror films atop the domestic box office doesn’t happen all that often.