As expected, Universal/Blumhouse’s “Halloween” is easily holding on to the No. 1 spot at the box office this weekend, with estimates of a $30 million second weekend.
That’s a 61 percent drop from the film’s $76.2 million opening weekend, a solid hold considering that many horror titles are typically very front-loaded and that “Halloween” had a larger than expected launch, posting one of the top ten largest opening ever by a R-rated film.
By comparison, “The Nun” dropped 66 percent in its second weekend last month from its $53 million opening, and “Halloween” has already passed that film’s entire domestic run.
If this result holds, the film will have a domestic 10-day total of just under $125 million, ranking it third among all Blumhouse films. (Producer Jason Blum’s “Get Out” grossed $176 million last year, and “Split” hit $138.2 million.)
With “Halloween” continuing to pull moviegoers from Sony’s “Venom,” Warner Bros.’ “A Star Is Born” is looking like it will take the No. 2 spot for a third consecutive weekend with an estimated $14 million, just a 27 percent fall from the previous weekend.
That would give the Oscar contending film a total of $148 million, putting it in second among all 2018 Warner releases. While the forthcoming “Fantastic Beasts” sequel and “Aquaman” will knock it down that list, it shows the enduring appeal of this remake of a Hollywood classic.
Sony’s “Venom” is in third with an estimated $10 million as the film nears $500 million worldwide and $200 million domestic. Completing the top five are another Sony release, “Goosebumps 2,” and Lionsgate/Summit’s new release “Hunter Killer,” a submarine thriller starring Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman.
Both films are projected to make around $7 million this weekend, with “Goosebumps 2” in its third weekend and newcomer “Hunter Killer” meeting tracker projections.
“Hunter Killer” grossed $2.5 million from 2,720 screens this weekend against a reported $40 million budget. Lionsgate purchased the U.S. and U.K. distribution rights to the film, which was financed by Millennium Films.
The film is expected to make its profits overseas, as Gerard Butler still has draw as an action star outside the U.S. with films like “Geostorm,” which flopped with $221 million grossed worldwide against a $120 million budget but still made $187 million internationally. Critics gave the film negative reviews and a 35 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, though it has an A- on CinemaScore.
Outside the top 10 are Pure Flix’s “Indivisible” and Universal’s “Johnny English Strikes Again.”
“English” is expected to gross just $1.5 million from 500 screens. The film only has a 32 percent RT score, but that’s fine as the film has already made more than $100 million overseas in the U.K. and other countries where the Rowan Atkinson spy parody series is more popular. “Indivisible” is doing slightly better with $1.6 million from 830 screens.