‘Halloween’ Slated to Earn Record-Breaking Opening Weekend

Hitting theaters in three weeks is the highly-anticipated Halloween sequel, which sees the reunion of original actors Jamie Lee Curtis and Nick Castle, as original director John Carpenter comes back into the fold as an executive producer. Anticipation around the film is so high that the film is slated to earn the biggest opening weekend of any film in the franchise so far.

According to Deadline, the new film is on track to take in between $40 and $50 million in its three-day opening weekend. The reports claim that one factor that could be helping the film become a success is its appeal to a wide range of audiences, as R-rated horror films typically do well with men over the age of 25, though the film centering around compelling female characters and the brand recognition broadens the audience.

While the new film is expected to have the biggest opening of the franchise, these numbers are far shy of the all-time record. Last year’s IT, which opened the first weekend of September, took in more than $120 million in its opening weekend. That film was the second live-action adaptation of the Stephen King novel, with this new Halloween being the 11th entry in the franchise, the last being 2009’s Halloween II.

In the new film, “A British documentary crew comes to the States to visit Michael in prison for a retrospective of the maniac’s night of terror — but their project becomes way more interesting when Myers escapes custody, retrieves his signature mask and seeks revenge on Laurie, with others naturally being part of his impressive career body count along the way. In the decades following the fateful Halloween night that forever altered the former babysitter’s life, Laurie has armed and prepped herself for Michael’s inevitable return — to the detriment of her family, including daughter Karen and granddaughter Allyson.”

This year’s Halloween made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival to generally positive reviews. Halloween currently sits at 85 percent positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, which the site describes, “Halloween largely wipes the slate clean after decades of disappointing sequels, ignoring increasingly elaborate mythology in favor of basic – yet still effective – ingredients.”

Despite the multiple sequels that followed the original 1978 film, this new chapter ignores the events of all other sequels.

You can check out the new Halloween when it hits theaters on October 19th.

Will you be checking out the film in its opening weekend? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

[H/T Deadline]