It scared up some incredible business.
About a year ago, when the 2018 version of Halloween was first announced, fans got very excited.
Jamie Lee Curtis returning to her iconic role for the first time in 20 years (we’re forgetting Halloween: Resurrection exists, as should you), and we were told that ALL of the other sequels would be disregarded (including, ironically, Halloween H20), that this would be the only direct sequel to worry about, and that original writer/director John Carpenter was giving his personal blessings by coming on board as executive producer, as well as taking on soundtrack duties.
It was also the 40th anniversary of the original, plus we were told that this would be the FINAL Halloween movie. This was it, and it was a perfect storm of horror movie fandom getting exactly what they could have wanted from the slasher franchise.
Which goes some way to explaining why the movie – which cost just $10 million to produce – has banked $77.5 million in its opening weekend in the States alone.
That would make it the second biggest opening weekend in the entire history of horror movies, second only to last year’s IT: Part One remake, which still stands tall with an absolutely staggering $123 million opening weekend.
The audience reaction wasn’t exactly as positive as those numbers would suggest – a middling 68% on Metacritic, and JOE’s own Dave Hanratty came away very disappointed in his review – but it does pretty much confirm one thing.
This won’t be the last Halloween.
Yep, nothing this profitable will be left dead for too long, and already director telling Polygon that “Part of it is that playfulness,” he says. “Maybe it’s done. Maybe this is the last story. Maybe it’s not.”
Plus the post-credits scene (if you can even call it that, also, SPOILERS!) reveals that creepy Michael Myers breathing sound, which would suggest he isn’t quite as dead as the movie would have you believe.
So we’re fully expecting Halloween 2 – making it the FIFTH Halloween 2 to date – for October 2020.
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