NEW YORK — Michael Meyers — or is it Jamie Lee Curtis? — can’t be stopped. “Halloween” dominated the North American box office for the second straight weekend, carving up an estimated $32 million in ticket sales.
The top four films were all unchanged at the North American box office, according to Sunday estimates, as Hollywood left “Halloween” to dominate the pre-trick-or-treating weekend. The sequel to John Carpenter’s 1978 original, starring the 59-year-old Curtis as Laurie Strode, last week notched the biggest opening ever for a film with a female lead older than 55.
The Blumhouse Productions film, distributed by Universal Pictures, is already one of the highest grossing slasher films ever, with $126.7 million in ticket sales (plus another $45.6 million international) on just a $10 million budget. “Halloween,” directed by David Gordon Green, slid a relatively modest 58 percent — especially good for a horror release — after setting a record for an October debut last weekend.
Bradley Cooper’s lauded “A Star Is Born” remained in second place with $14 million in its fourth weekend. The film, starring Cooper and Lady Gaga, has thus far grossed $148.7 million domestically, while proving an equally strong seller overseas for Warner Bros. It’s made $104.6 million internationally.
Sony’s superhero spinoff “Venom” also stuck in third with $10.8 million in its fourth weekend. The comic-book adaptation, starring Tom Hardy, has grossed $504.8 million worldwide.
That trio of “Halloween,” ‘‘Venom” and “A Star Is Born” has driven the October box office to a new high. With a few days to go, monthly ticket sales had already surpassed the record of $757.1 million from 2014, according to comScore, with $789.9 million in sales in October — traditionally a fairly sleepy month in movie theaters.
Other films in nationwide release also struggled to come anywhere close to the strong holdovers.
After a promising limited release last weekend, Jonah Hill’s directorial debut, the coming-of-age skateboarding drama “Mid90s,” took in a mediocre $3 million 1,206 theaters for A24. Pure Flix’s Christian war film drama “Indivisible” took in $1.6 million on 830 screens.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to comScore.
- “Halloween,” $32 million ($25.6 million international).
- “A Star Is Born,” $14.1 million ($17.6 million international).
- “Venom,” $10.8 million ($17.3 million international).
- “Goosebumps 2,” $7.5 million ($10.3 million international).
- “Hunter Killer,” $6.7 million ($3.2 million international).
