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Box Office: ‘Halloween Kills’ Targets $50 Million Opening Weekend, Despite Simultaneous Peacock Debut

More than 40 years after the first “Halloween,” Michael Myers and Laurie Strode are still box office gold. “Halloween Kills” is targeting a $50.16 million three-day opening at the domestic box office.

Universal Pictures, Miramax and Blumhouse’s horror sequel took in $22.86 million on Friday, more than enough to land the weekend’s top slot. While the Friday numbers of “Halloween Kills” fall a bit short of the $33 million opening day of 2018’s “Halloween” (director David Gordon Green’s previous series entry), the result is still a marked achievement, not only for a pandemic release, but also for a film with a hybrid rollout on digital platforms. In addition to theaters, “Halloween Kills” is available to view on NBC’s streaming service Peacock.

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Should industry estimates hold, “Halloween Kills” will easily break the record for the highest-grossing opening weekend of a day-and-date release, skyrocketing past the $31.6 million high netted by “Godzilla vs. King” back in April. The Jamie Lee Curtis vehicle will also have the highest-grossing opening of a horror movie during the pandemic, outpacing the $47.5 million bow of “A Quiet Place Part II.”

“Halloween Kills ” picks up right where 2018’s “Halloween” left off. Laurie Strode (Curtis), along with her daughter (Judy Greer) and granddaughter (Andi Matichak), must try to prevent the killing spree of the unstoppable slasher Michael Myers after failing to slay him in a fiery basement. A sequel, “Halloween Ends,” is set to release on Oct. 14, 2022, so perhaps the Strode family will have some better luck next time.

Opening this weekend with far less encouraging results is Ridley Scott’s historical epic “The Last Duel.” The 20th Century Studios release took in $1.86 million on Friday, with industry projections estimating a three-day total of $4.52 million. That’s a disappointing number for a release that carries a sizable production budget and touts stars like Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer and Ben Affleck. In an era where there continues to be some trepidation about returning to movie theaters, audiences have been showing up for big franchise entries and little else. Additionally, with a two-hour and thirty-minute runtime and R-rating, “The Last Duel” is targeting older audiences, a demographic that remains especially reluctant to return to movie theaters.

Heading for the runner-up slot is the sophomore outing of MGM and Eon Productions’ “No Time to Die.” The latest James Bond entry took in $7.2 million on Friday, on its way to an estimated second weekend total of $24.16 million. The 56% drop from the film’s somewhat modest opening of $56 million is roughly in-line with that of previous franchise entries “Skyfall” and “Spectre.”

Sony’s superhero sequel “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” will take bronze. The film earned $4.58 million on Friday, headed to a three-day total of $16 million for its third weekend. The comic book adaptation is continuing an impressive box office performance that began with a $90.1 million three-day opening, the largest domestic box office debut of the pandemic era.

Likely coming in at No. 4 is UAR and MGM’s “The Addams Family 2.” The animated sequel continues to hold extremely well, taking in $1.8 million on Friday as it heads for a $6.55 million. With a projected drop of only 35%, “The Addams Family 2” continues its run of steady hold-overs, especially remarkable for a film that became available through at-home rentals on the same day of its theatrical debut. The family film is projected to bring its domestic cume to $41.6 million this weekend.

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