411 Box Office Report: Halloween Ends Takes Top Spot With $41 Million

Halloween Ends broke the box office drought that has held over the past couple of months, easily claiming the #1 spot this weekend. The final film in David Gordon Green’s Halloween trilogy grossed $41.3 million to win the weekend. That’s a bit below the $45 million start that most were expecting it to do, but still a touch above the $40 million estimates that were in place as of last weekend.

Some analysts were bullish on Ends, as it was being heavily promoted as the conclusion of the story between Michael Myers and Laurie Strode. However, those people were forgetting a few factors. For one, the previous film in the series was Halloween Kills, which was not well-loved by critics or fans for the most part. Those kinds of negative reactions are always going to have an effect on the next film, and they clearly did here as well. And Ends, like Kills, was released day-and-date on Peacock which allowed fans to see it at home.

All that said, those factors didn’t have the depressing effect that they could have, and this is still a win for the studio. While Ends’ opening weekend is well below the $76.2 million start of the 2018 Halloween that started the trilogy and under the $49.4 million start of Kills, it’s still a solid launch. Halloween 2018 was released in an entirely different time (aka pre-pandemic), and Kills was boosted by the positive reception to its immediate predecessor. Neither of those things are factors that Ends had going for it.

Ends also had a couple other negative factors stalking it in the critical and audience buzz. Like Kills, this one was not a hit with critics who gave it largely negative reviews; it stands at a 40% aggregate score on Rotten Tomatoes. The audience reaction wasn’t great either, with a 57% audience rating on RT (compared to 66% for Kills and 71% for Halloween 2018). The CinemaScore was a C+, below the B- for Kills and the 2018 film’s B+.

All that is to say that this one will probably be almost as frontloaded as Kills, which didn’t quite double its opening weekend. Ends did add $17.2 million overseas, a 46% better start than Kills had which bodes well for its futures there. Domestically it should be able to hit around $80 million to $85 million by the end of its run, which will be somewhat disappointing but will still be very profitable considering the budget was just $20 million.

Smile weathered the assault of Halloween Ends well, with the Parker Finn-directed horror flick taking in $12.4 million. That’s off just 33% from last weekend’s numbers and pushes the Paramount Pictures release into big hit territory. The well-received film is now up to $71.2 million domestically and $137.6 million worldwide, enormous numbers against a bunch of just $17 million. At this point, it seems like a sure thing to pass $90 million domestically and $100 million is not out of the question.

Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile had a decent hold in its second weekend, as it was down 35% to $7.4 million. That’s good news for Sony Pictures considering this one didn’t exactly light the world on fire in its opening. The family film had good audience reactions, so this was somewhat expected, and the movie is now up to $22.8 million domestically and $26.7 million worldwide. It will need to continue holding on well in addition to picking up more business overseas if it wants to have even the slightest hope of making back its $50 million production budget, though. Right now, it seems likely to finish out at around $35 million to $40 million in the US.

The Woman King is continuing its strong weekend-to-weekend holds as it eased 29% to $3.7 million in its fifth weekend. The action drama is now up to $59.8 million domestically and $76.5 million worldwide, inching its way toward a possible profit against its $50 million budget once it expands more overseas. Domestically it still looks to finish out with around $70 million.

David O. Russell’s Amsterdam was already a bomb, but its second weekend didn’t help matters much. The period comedy thriller was down 55% to $2.9 million. If any movie needed to avoid being front-loaded it was this one, but that wasn’t meant to be. The $80 million budgeted film is going to lose a lot of money for Disney; it has grossed a total of $12 million domestically and $18.5 million worldwide, with a likely stateside close around $18 million to $20 million.

Don’t Worry Darling stabilized a little in its fourth weekend, off 38% to $2.2 million. The Olivia Wilde-directed film has now grossed $42.4 million domestically and $78.2 million worldwide; for all the bad buzz around this, it’s a money-maker for Warner Bros. against a budget of just $19 million. It should be able to finish off at around $48 million to $50 million in the US.

Barbarian was down 36% in its sixth weekend to gross $1.4 million. The 20th Century Studios flick is now up to $39 million domestically and $40.6 million worldwide, a big hit against a $4.5 million production budget. It should be able to make it to $44 million before it exits theaters.

Bros continues to race its way off the charts, down 57% in its third weekend to $920,000. That’s bad news for Universal Pictures, with the film now having grossed just $10.8 million. The film at this point is looking like it won’t even top $15 million in the states, a money loser against its $22 million budget.

Terrifier 2 stayed in theaters following a great opening weekend, and it actually improved on last weekend’s take as word started to spread about it. The violent horror sequel took in $850,000, up 6% from last weekend’s opening weekend and bringing its totals to $2.3 million domestically and $2.4 million worldwide. These are fantastic numbers for a film that cost just $250,000 to produce and Bloody Disgusting, who distributed, has to be ecstatic here.

Top Gun: Maverick held on one more week in the top 10 – its 21st weekend – as it was down 15% to $685,000. The action sequel now has $715.8 million domestically and $1.483 billion worldwide, of course a massive against its $170 million budget.

Next weekend will see Halloween Ends make way for Black Adam. The DCEU film is tracking for $65 million or so. Meanwhile, the George Clooney and Julia Roberts romcom Ticket to Paradise seems likely for a low teens start
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BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Halloween Ends – $41.3 million ($41.3 million total, $58.4 million WW)
2. Smile – $12.4 million ($71.2 million total, $137.6 million WW)
3. Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile – $7.4 million ($22.8 million total, $26.7 million WW)
4. The Woman King – $3.7 million ($54.1 million total, $76.5 million WW)
5. Amsterdam – $2.9 million ($12 million total, $18.5 million WW)
6. Don’t Worry Darling – $2.2 million ($42.4 million total, $78.2 million WW)
7. Barbarian – $1.4 million ($39 million total, $40.6 million WW)
8. Bros – $920,000 ($10.8 million total, $10.8 million WW)
9. Terrifier 2 – $850,000 ($2.3 million total, $2.4 million total WW)
10. Top Gun: Maverick – $685,000 ($715.8 million total, $1.483 billion WW)