“Halloween Ends” is coming home.
In an announcement made on Twitter, Jamie Lee Curtis, star of the upcoming “Halloween Ends,” said that the forthcoming movie, the third part of a trilogy that began with 2018’s “Halloween,” will be available to watch on Peacock on the same day that it opens in theaters (Oct. 14).
“Last year when we put out ‘Halloween Kills,’ we were in the thick of the COVID crisis so we made that movie available in theaters and in homes at the same time. We discovered that there are people who want to go to the theater and scream their guts out. And there are other people who want to stay at home and scream their guts out. But what we knew is that people watched,” Curtis explained in the fun video (with Michael Myers casually stalking her). “We got great results at the box office and from streaming. This year we want as many people as possible to see ‘Halloween Ends’ before Halloween, so we decided to give that same gift to the fans, again. Starting on October 14, you can go to the theater to see Laurie and Michael confront each other for the last time or watch at home on Peacock.”
At the time of the simultaneous “Halloween Kills” release last year, Universal insiders at told TheWrap that the revived horror franchise was seen as an ideal candidate for the release strategy as a high-profile IP that could be used to promote Peacock. At the same time, the film could still stand as a strong theatrical draw given the preference among the sort of hardcore horror fans that make up the opening weekend crowd for “Halloween” to see films in the genre in a crowded theater.
Ultimately, “Halloween Kills” was a stereotypically front-loaded horror title at the box office, opening to $49.4 million and finishing with a total of $92 million domestic and $131.6 million worldwide. That’s only slightly more than half of what the 2018 revival of “Halloween” made at $159.3 million domestic and $255 million worldwide, though the poor critical reception of “Halloween Kills” compared to its predecessor was likely a stronger factor in its weaker showing than its availability on Peacock.
Regardless, the shift in strategy for “Halloween Ends” means that theaters will have one less major film in October that will exclusively play in theaters. That will be a setback for a box office that is expected to continue on its current slump through September and is looking to titles in October like ‘Ends’ to improve audience turnout. Other major titles set for release in October include Warner Bros./DC’s “Black Adam,” Lionsgate’s “White Bird” and Sony’s “Lyle Lyle Crocodile.” Potential awards contenders like Searchlight’s “The Banshees of Inisherin” and MGM’s “Till” will also be released that month.
“Halloween Ends,” like “Halloween” and “Halloween Kills,” is directed and co-written by David Gordon Green and will star Curtis, Andi Matichak, Will Patton and Kyle Richards (reprising her role from the original 1978 “Halloween” and “Kills”). Original filmmaker John Carpenter returns to score the movie, alongside Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies.
