Universal Sets Halloween Kills Day-And-Date Bow For Theaters, Peacock

Universal Pictures is bringing one of its most anticipated films for the rest of 2021 to Peacock day-and-date in Halloween Kills. The studio announced on Thursday that the Halloween sequel, which is directed by David Gordon Green and stars stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Robert Longstreet, Charles Cyphers, Anthony Michael Hall, Kyle Richards, and Nancy Stephens, will release on the NBCUniversal streaming service on October 15th. That is the same day that the movie will launch in theaters.

While one would imagine the move is the the latest by studios who are bracing against a murky theatrical landscape as COVID-19 cases increase thanks to the delta variant, Deadline reports that this isn’t the case. Instead, they say that the decision is a move to “eventize” the sequel both for theaters and for Peacock.

It is also worth noting that October is going to be a VERY busy month theatrically, with Venom: Let There Be Carnage (October 1st), No Time to Die (October 8th), and Dune (October 22nd on HBO Max and in theaters), and that’s only the big blockbusters. A hybrid release allows Universal to maximize its profit and get more subscribers to Peacock without having to worry so much about competition for theater seats.

The first film in Green’s revival trilogy grossed $255.6 million worldwide when it bowed in 2018. A third film, Halloween Ends, is set for release in 2022.