Box office: 'Halloween' scares away box office competition with $32 million
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) - “Halloween” easily stayed No. 1 at the domestic box office in its second weekend as the spooky holiday nears.
Universal and Blumhouse’s slasher film starring Jamie Lee Curtis picked up another $32 million, marking a 58 percent decline from its impressive debut. Directed by David Gordon Green, “Halloween” crossed $100 million on Friday.
Holdovers “A Star Is Born” and “Venom” also remained in the top five. Warner Bros.’ “A Star Is Born” landed in second place with $14 million, dropping just 26 percent in its fourth outing. Lady Gaga and Bradley’s musical drama has earned $148 million. “Venom,” Sony’s dark superhero film with Tom Hardy, came in third with $10.8 million, bringing its domestic tally to $187 million.
Otherwise, studios generally steered clear of the pre-Halloween frame. Lionsgate and Summit’s “Hunter Killer,” a high-stakes thriller starring Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman, was the only wide release. It wasn’t able to beat “Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween” as Sony’s family friendly flick came in fourth place with $7.5 million.
“Hunter Killer” was, at least, able to round out the top five with $6.65 million when it opened in 2,720 locations. The audience, which was predominately male and over the age of 25, gave the film an A- CinemaScore. Critics were far less generous with a Rotten Tomatoes average of 36 percent.
This weekend’s other new offerings failed to stir up much interest. Pure Flix’s faith-based war drama “Indivisible” fell flat, earning just $1.5 million in 830 theaters.
Meanwhile, Universal’s “Johnny English Strikes Again” pocketed a meager $1.5 million from 533 screens. An underwhelming performance in the States might not matter considering the movie is virtually engineered for international audiences. The third installment in the Rowan Atkinson-led British spy series launched earlier this month overseas, where it has already generated $97.6 million.
In limited release, Amazon Studios nabbed the highest screen average of the year as Luca Guadagnino’s horror remake “Suspiria” with Dakota Johnson and Tilda Swinton generated $179,806 from just two locations, or $89,903 per venue.
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