North American moviegoers really like to be scared, and Universal gleefully accommodated them this weekend as its new release Halloween registered an impressive $76.2 million in ticket sales, industry tracker Exhibitor Relations reported Monday.
That strong three-day number gave the film the second-best opening ever for an October, trailing only Venom, which earlier this month booked an $80 million debut.
Universal executives could be excused for a bit of gloating—they produced Halloween for a microscopic $10 million.
The movie recounts the return of homicidal masked figure Michael Myers (Nick Castle) 40 years after he set off on a bloody Halloween night killing spree. Jamie Lee Curtis again stars as Laurie Strode, sole survivor of that spree.
Holding tight in the second spot was Warner Bros musical drama A Star Is Born, with ticket sales of $19.1 million. Sony’s Venom was not far behind, taking in $18 million as it approaches $500 million globally. Tom Hardy stars as a journalist who becomes the superpowerful host for an alien creature.
In fourth was another seasonal offering, Sony’s Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween, at $9.7 million. And the fifth spot went to Universal’s astronaut drama First Man, with $8.3 million. The film, directed by Oscar-winner Damien Chazelle and starring Ryan Gosling, recounts Neil Armstrong’s historic journey to the moon in 1969.