‘Halloween’ movie poised for huge box office opening with huge presale

Blumhouse

• “Halloween” is projected to gross $65 million or more at the
  box office this weekend, continuing the horror genre’s win
  streak.
• The movie has already surpassed “The Nun” as online ticket
  service Fandango’s biggest horror preseller this year.
• The movie would also add to an already impressive October box
  office, in which “Venom” broke the record for the biggest opening
  weekend of the month.

The horror genre has never looked better at the box office than
in the last two years, and the new “Halloween” movie is poised to
continue that win streak. 

The movie is projected to debut to $65 million or more this
weekend, which would be one of the biggest openings for a horror
movie of all time. In fact, according to Fandango, “Halloween” is
the online ticket service’s biggest horror preseller of the year.
It has sold more advance tickets than “The Nun,” the previous top
horror movie of the year in pre-sale tickets. This comes just a
month after “The Nun” shattered expectations despite
poor reviews and opened with $53.5 million, and a year after
“It” grossed a whopping $123 million in its first weekend.

That’s not to mention the stunning success of last year’s “Get
Out” and this year’s “A Quiet Place,” both of which far exceeded
their production budgets in box-office take. Even “Hereditary,”
which divided audiences this year, is the studio A24’s
highest-grossing movie yet.

Exhibitor Relations senior box-office analyst Jeff Bock told
Business Insider in September,
when “The Nun” was released, that he had “no doubt” that
“Halloween” would make between $50 and $60 million in its opening
weekend because the studio behind the movie, Blumhouse,
“knows how to construct a film and market it.”

It’s not just the horror genre that is having a moment, though.
The October box office is enjoying an impressive run, as well.
“Venom” opened with $80 million earlier this month, the biggest October opening weekend
ever. And despite such a big opening for “Venom,” Oscar
hopeful “A Star is Born” still made over $42 million when it
opened at the same time.

Both films are holding steady going into their third weekends,
but “Halloween” is expected to slash its way to the top of the
box office.