It could be the positive reviews, it could be the nostalgia a classic horror movie, but I am chalking the success of the new Halloween to the enchanting Jamie Lee Curtis.
Variety reports that the reboot is poised to be the October release with the biggest box office receipts of all time. It’s estimated that the film’s opening weekend will bring in $77.5 million. This has the movie almost neck and neck with Venom, which opened three weeks ago and earned $80.255 million during its opening weekend. It also makes it the second highest horror movie opening of all time. (It is first with an $123 million opening.) Plus it’s the highest movie opening with a woman over 55. More of this please.
Everyone associated with the film is excited about the success. Jason Blum, head of the Blumhouse label said in a statement that, “The reception of fans and critics alike is a huge endorsement of the Blumhouse model. Combining legendary source material, the participation of original creators and a fresh take from talented directors and writers who don’t normally do horror films, Halloween brings the franchise back to life in a fresh, relevant and fun way.”
The script by director David Gordon Green and Eastbound and Down’s Danny McBride, who is new to the horror game, has received critical raves. With Jamie Lee Curtis working once again with John Carpenter, who brought us the 1978 original, it’s easy to see why the film works for a contemporary audience.
As for the relationship between Carpenter and his leading lady, Jamie implied in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that this new movie makes up for 1998’s Halloween: H2O, which was supposed to reunite the pair, along with producer Debra Hill. Due to other obligations, Carpenter and Hill weren’t involved in the sequel, Jamie recalled:
“Now, to this day, I regret that I didn’t say to everyone, If Debra Hill’s not the one producing this movie, I’m not doing it. But what ended up happening was, she wasn’t part of it, John wasn’t part of it, and I was still part of it, and it was a machine going down the road. I was excited about it, and, honestly, I was going to be paid well. I hadn’t made any money on the Halloween franchise at all. I mean, really, in all of those years I hadn’t really made any money. It just gave me a lot of fame. And now I was going to get a paycheck.”
“If you see that movie, it’s not a great movie, it’s a good movie, and that emotional intent is in the movie. But it was never what I hoped it would be for all these reasons that ended up being things that were out of my control.”
I’m glad for the success of the new film and, as I always seem to be late to the party on these things, will get out and see it eventually – heck, I just saw A Star is Born last week. I am happy for everyone involved, but most of all I am glad to see Jamie Lee Curtis back on the big screen.
Note by Celebitchy and mild spoiler for Halloween: I saw Halloween on Sunday and it was awesome. It was an excellent old school slasher flick showing the power of three generations of women. My only complaint is that we didn’t learn what happened to the kid who escaped whose babysitter was killed. Plus Michael Myers just kept living when he should have been severely maimed at least but that’s to be expected. Jamie Lee Curtis was awesome. I want her to be in all the things.
OK. I’m going for one BOAST post. Biggest horror movie opening with a female lead.
Biggest movie opening with a female lead over 55.
Second biggest October movie opening ever.
Biggest Halloween opening ever #womengetthingsdone @halloweenmovie pic.twitter.com/DhUBy82z3U— Jamie Lee Curtis (@jamieleecurtis) October 21, 2018
Photos: Getty, WENN
I genuinely got dragged to this…and I genuinely loved it! Bravo to Jamie Lee and everyone involved.
No spoiler, but for those who have seen it; Judy f**king Greer! Am I right? Hollywood should hang it’s head in shame for how they have wasted her. It took a freaking slasher film reboot to give her a moment to shine.
That kid the girl was babysitting stole the show lol. I agree that Jamie Lee Curtis was a big draw for the film. #JamieLeeCurtisForever
He was hilarious and handled the rest well too.
@Celebitchy I may be stretching things, but the not seeing that character later may be a slight homage to the original where Laurie gets the kids she’s looking after to run away, and we can assume they’re safe, but weirdly we don’t see them ever again.
Pretty much. He said, “if you go up there you’re gonna die” and that pretty much sums s*it up for me about this film.
Going to see it Wednesday – can’t wait!
Biggest movie opening with a female lead over 55!
Congratulations, Jamie Lee! Rock that box office!
I guess everyone saw a different movie than I did because it was aggressively mediocre to me.
Yay for Jamie and company. And lol at “the Blumhouse model.” It’s so specific and I would think, limiting. But it did work for this, so kudos.
Yeah Jamie!!! So excited for this kind of news.
My husband made me watch the original this weekend (he made me watch it once years ago so this was only my second viewing) and I do think its kind of hard to watch it after Scream lol because I keep thinking “no no! don’t do that! that always gets people killed.” But of course when Halloween came out all the stereotypes and well-known plot devices weren’t there.
The one thing about the original that drove me crazy is what CB mentions – how is Michael Myers not dead or at least maimed? He’s not supernatural. He’s just a man.
In the original timeline (Halloween 1,2,4,5 and 6), he’s not exactly “just a man”, well 1&2 before 3 flopped maybe. There’s a bit of supernatural stuff thrown in for 4-6 to explain why he’s kind of indestructible. It’s a bit of a mess and is one of the reasons why Halloween 2018 is actually the second time they’ve disregarded 4-6 to have a coherent film.
I saw it and while I enjoyed it, it kinda lacked a decent plot as everything was predictable. Plus it kinda left things open for another film.
JLC was amazing as always – am loving that this female led movie is dominating the box office. I kinda wish that Judy Greer had a bigger part, love her.
Because I’m a punk I can’t watch scary movies at night. So I’ll hit up the matinee tomorrow.
Although I loved seeing JLC in the movie, I thought the movie was kind of underwhelming. The ending was also abrupt. I am not sure what I was expecting but this wasn’t quite it. That being said, it wasn’t all bad and there were a few funny moments 😊
I don’t watch horror movies, but I am so happy for her success! She kicks ass!
The movie was fantastic. I’m a big horror fan so I was going to love this anyway, but I didn’t think I’d love it for the reasons I did. The bond between Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, and the daughter (I’ve forgotten her name) was believable and really made the film. Michael was sufficiently brutal and chilling in a manner that horror icons rarely get to be in their subsequent outings. Most of the sequels/remakes for the Big 3 (Michael, Jason, and Freddy) are downright terrible. This wasn’t. They avoided the trappings of trying to define why the Shape was evil and with the exception of a few random kills, every named kill felt impactful. I’m definitely going to see it a couple of more times before the month is over.