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Jamie Lee Curtis Revives ‘Halloween’ With a Record Debut

Jamie Lee Curtis Revives ‘Halloween’ With Record Weekend Debut

(Bloomberg) -- An eagerly awaited new “Halloween” movie killed it at the box office, setting weekend records for the popular slasher genre of horror films.

Reuniting Jamie Lee Curtis and the world created by horror filmmaker John Carpenter, the film collected $76.2 million in theaters in the U.S. and Canada, ComScore Inc. said Monday. That easily beat the old record for a slasher movie, set in 2009 by a reboot of the “Friday the 13th” series, and keeps the industry on a record path for October.

Jamie Lee Curtis Revives ‘Halloween’ With a Record Debut

“Halloween” was one of the most anticipated films of the year because it featured well-known figures from the 1978 original. The horror genre is one of the most enduring in Hollywood, even as the box office has become more challenging, with titles regularly breaching expectations. The picture represents another win for Blumhouse Productions and its distributor, Comcast Corp.’s Universal Pictures.

Jamie Lee Curtis Revives ‘Halloween’ With a Record Debut

In “Halloween,” Curtis plays Laurie Strode, reprising the role that made her famous in a final face-off with Michael Myers. The sequel picks up four decades after she narrowly escaped the masked murderer’s killing spree from the first installment. The film focuses on Strode dealing with the trauma of those events, having become a recluse.

The movie cost just $10 million to make, before marketing costs, and was projected to debut to as much as $70 million, according to Box Office Mojo. The studio had expected an opening north of $50 million. Earlier in the month, superhero movie “Venom” was the biggest-ever October debut, with $80.3 million.

Jamie Lee Curtis Revives ‘Halloween’ With a Record Debut

The horror flick beat an opening weekend record for slasher movies set by the 2009 reboot of “Friday the 13th,” which brought in $40.6 million. It is also the biggest installment for the franchise and the second-biggest debut for a R-rated horror feature behind September 2017’s “It,” according to Box Office Mojo. More than 80 percent of critics recommended the movie, according to RottenTomatoes.com.

Even with a strong female lead, Blumhouse faced a backlash to comments of founder Jason Blum, who in an interview cited a lack of female directors to explain why none of his films were directed by women. On Thursday, the prolific producer apologized and said he had misspoken about a topic he felt passionate about. The executive, known for making “Paranormal Activity” a billion-dollar franchise, said he was talking with many female directors in the wake of the controversy.

Jamie Lee Curtis Revives ‘Halloween’ With a Record Debut

“The Hate U Give,” about a wrongful shooting by a police officer, was the only other new movie in wide release, expanding to more than 2,300 theaters. It placed sixth with $7.6 million after almost unanimous recommendations from critics.

Amandla Stenberg features as Starr Carter, a teenager who witnesses the wrongful shooting of her friend by a police officer. Regina Hall and Common also star. The film from 21st Century Fox Inc.’s Fox 2000 Pictures cost $23 million to make, before marketing costs, and it matched predictions for its first wide-release weekend, according to Box Office Mojo. The film started a limited run Oct. 5.

Box office receipts total $9.54 billion so far this year, up about 11 percent from a year earlier, ComScore reported.

To contact the reporter on this story: Anousha Sakoui in Los Angeles at asakoui@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, Rob Golum, Kevin Miller

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