Blockbuster horror has continued to prove popular despite the pandemic, with A Quiet Place Part II setting a record at the time after debuting with $48 million in May, which was largely attributed to the fact the first movie seized the zeitgeist and John Krasinski’s sequel wasn’t available to stream day-and-date.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It was, but the HBO Max hybrid release still managed to open to $24 million. However, Halloween Kills is expected to blow both of those aforementioned titles out of the water, even though Michael Myers’ latest murder spree also hit Peacock yesterday.
Early projections had the middle chapter in David Gordon Green’s trilogy hovering around the $40 million mark, but that number has now been revised significantly. As per Deadline, after bringing in almost $5 million from Thursday previews and close to $23 million on Friday, Halloween Kills will sail past the $50 million barrier by the end of tomorrow.
That’s the highest pandemic-era total for a simultaneous streaming release that isn’t locked behind a paywall, proving that in the month of October, audiences are more than happy to pack out theaters across the country and watch some good old fashioned bloodlust on the biggest screen possible.