RankTitleDomestic Gross (Weekend)Worldwide Gross (Cume)Week #Percentage ChangeBudget1Halloween (2018)$77,501,000$91,801,0001N/A$10M2A Star is Born (2018)$19,300,000$201,076,2463-32.2%$36M3Venom$18,105,000$461,825,0953-48.3%$100M4Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween$9,715,000$39,904,8122-38.5%$35M5First Man$8,565,000$55,499,0502-46.5%$59MNotable Box Office StoriesHalloween (2018) - Call me crazy but I think this horror revival thing is kinda working out! The latest monster hit in the genre is Halloweeen (2018), the 11th Halloween film which opened to a massive $77.5M at #1. That's the second best horror opening ever behind IT ($123.4M), the second best October opening ever just behind Venom which set the bar just two weeks ago with its $80.2M opening, and most insanely it's now the highest grossing Halloween film domestically and worldwide in a single weekend. All this on a budget of $10M. Obviously part of that is inflation but that's still an impressive amount of money jumping up, especially when compared to the recent Rob Zombie directed reboots which petered out after two films. This series, outside of the first one which was the highest grossing independent film of all time before it was supplanted by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, was never that big of a money maker. Not to mention Michel Meyers often felt like he was coming in third in the race behind the more famous slasher villains Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger. So why this one and why now is a soft reboot of a franchise that has struggled for relevancy suddenly a massive hit?Halloween (2018) (cont.) - Well for one I think there has been a huge reappreciation of John Carpenter, director of the original Halloween, in recent years. The last five years have been a treasure trove of homages to his work in shows like Stranger Things. Second, we are just in such a horror boom right now. Let's not forget this is the third horror film this year to open above $50M. Before 2017 just two horror films (The Village and Paranormal Activity 3) opened above $50M and now it's a downright regular occurrence. The rise of acclaimed indie horror as well as the Blumhouse model (who produced this film) have created a new age of horror that hasn't felt so exciting and mainstream since the 80s slasher boom and bust. There's also the soft reboot model, as this is actually a continuation of the first Halloween film, ignoring all other films that came after and bringing back the protagonist of the first, Laurie Strode who is still played by Jamie Lee Curtis. While the three straight reboots of the major slasher franchises in the late 2000s failed to garner interest these soft reboots give an easy access to both fans and non-fans. It's also good that Halloween is just through osmosis inside the minds of so many people even if they've never sat down and watched a full film. All that combined to a perfect storm this weekend.Halloween (2018) (cont.) - With a budget of $10M, Halloween making $50M domestic and $90M worldwide was already a lovely pipe dream and now it's done it in one weekend. It will be interesting to see where it goes from here. Perhaps it was a main core audience that came out but again these films rarely make money outside of the ones with Jamie Lee in them (the last big franchise hit this had was Halloween H20 which is like the 20 year anniversary version of this movie). With a B+ on Cinemascore it could be have some decent legs for a horror film but timing is a bit rough. Traditionally the reason you open horror in late September instead of late October is that for many there's a hard cutoff on horror come November 1st and October 31st in particular is a TERRIBLE time for the box office with most people either out partying or watching scary movies at home. Perhaps Halloween's uniqueness will keep it afloat, especially next weekend with so little competition. But even still this film should easily breeze past $150M domestic which is just ludicrous for a film so cheap and for a franchise that has been so scattered. Now let's see if they make the same mistake as Halloween H20 and follow-up a huge hit with a terrible cash grab that destroys the franchise in one movie! I mean, it's basically a Halloween tradition at this point.The Hate U Give - You know it says something about how much every part of our lives are political when this extremely political film comes out and no one is really talking about in mainstream media. Ehh, probably for the best. The film about a girl who witnesses her friend get killed by a cop which inspires her personal political activism expanded wide this week to #6 with $7.5M. While not incredible it is a solid expansion for the film which has been slowly expanding the last two weeks. As a new wide release the film now has a Cinemascore where it earned an impressive A+, so while audiences have been somewhat limited the ones that are out have been going for it which could make it a solid earner as the weeks go by. It could also be good timing as we roll into November and the US midterm elections arrive, which have been the mostly hotly contested and watched midterms in recent memory. It will be interesting to see where THUG (ohhh) goes from here as it's one of the first mainstream movies to be so openly about the political action movements of modern young people, something I think we can all agree won't be going away any time soon.Oscar Movie Round-Up - Oh man I open up the round-up last week and now it's just a damn free for all! Well might as well start with what still feels like the front runner, A Star is Born (2018) which this week passed $125M domestic and $200M worldwide. That's pretty damn amazing for a 2hr 15min adult drama even with a banging soundtrack. This puts a lot more momentum in the sails of ASIB, especially in a year where Oscars are so desperate for relevancy they considered making a "popular movie" category. Well this is one really damn popular movie that's playing to a wide range of audiences. Next up is The Old Man & the Gun the reported final film of Robert Redford and latest directorial effort of David Lowery (A Ghost Story) which added 574 theaters this weekend for a total of 800 where it grossed $2M. That's not a great return especially in per theater averages. Part of the problem is the film has a bit of a tone problem as it's more sad and lonesome than the subject matter may suggest. Also when it was announced this felt like an easy walk to Best Actor win for Redford but now the field is more crowded, especially with actor/directors like Bradley Cooper and Clint Eastwood taking up space. It's likely The Sisters Brothers was never going to be a an Oscars player even before it bombed but its downfall is key to the changing landscape of prestige filmmaking. The Western starring Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly expanded to 1,100 theaters this weekend but made just $742K, a per theater average of just $650. This is a really bad sign for Annapurna Pictures, who were doing well as the main house where auteurs could get their mid budgets movies made. However their transition from production house to distributor has been a disaster with bombs like Detroit and now this which is looking to close around $2M-$3M on a budget of $39M. It's no wonder the firm is facing restructuring.Oscar Movie Round-Up (cont.) - Meanwhile the latest great trailer turned movie from A24 mid90s opened in 4 theaters to $249,500, a per theater average of $62K. The film written and directed by Jonah Hill (Evan Almighty) the film is a slice of life skater drama set...I dunno sometime I guess. The film received a slightly more muted response from critics than expected but still generally positive. Word is A24 is pushing Eighth Grade as their big awards winner this year so mid90s is looking for a more general audience hit as it expands next weekend and with this fantastic opening it could work. Speaking of once broad comedy actors trying to outgrow their genres Can You Ever Forgive Me? opened this weekend in 5 theaters to $150K, a per theater average of $30K. The biopic starring Melissa McCarthy as an infamous literary forger has become a dark horse best acting candidate for McCarthy and her co-star Richard E. Grant. Reviews have been stellar especially praising the two leads. However almost every review goes out of its way to mention how bad they felt the trailer was at representing the film, and bad trailers are very hard to overcome even with amazing press. Finally the last notable new release was Wildlife, the directorial debut of classic Paul Dano which opened in 4 theaters to $105K, a per theater average of $26K. The film stars Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal as a married couple in the 1960s whose marriage begins to fall apart. The film is well loved by critics but seems to mostly be under the radar in terms of Oscar buzz but perhaps if it earns a solid run it could change that.Films Reddit Wants to FollowThis is a segment where we keep a weekly tally of currently showing films that aren't in the Top 5 that fellow redditors want updates on. If you'd like me to add a film to this chart, make a comment in this thread.TitleDomestic Gross (Weekly)Domestic Gross (Cume)Worldwide Gross (Cume)BudgetWeek #Incredibles 2$276,976$607,588,569$1,227,538,054$200M19Ant-Man and the Wasp$120,289$216,565,229$622,338,299$162M16Mission: Impossible - Fallout$228,774$220,159,104$791,107,538$178M13Crazy Rich Asians$1,420,833$171,710,201$230,810,201$30M10Notable Film ClosingsTitleDomestic Gross (Cume)Worldwide Gross (Cume)BudgetDeadpool 2$318,491,426$734,245,921$110MTeen Titans Go! To The Movies$29,562,341$51,462,341$10MThe Darkest Minds$12,695,691$41,117,818$34MA.X.L.$6,501,381$8,011,563$10MAs always r/boxoffice is a great place to share links and other conversations about box office news.Also you can see the archive of all Box Office Week posts at r/moviesboxoffice (which have recently been updated). via /r/movies https://ift.tt/2R4gMwM
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