Game Of Box Offices: David Gordon Green’s “Halloween” slashes the competition, “A Star Is Born” rises above “Venom”

Towering over the competition this weekend, David Gordon Green’s “Halloween” sequel took the crown with $76.2 million, a whopping $10 million over its initial project of $65 million and closing in on the record-breaking October opening of  $80.2 million for “Venom” just two weeks ago. Instead of dropping to second place this week, “A Star Is Born,” as predicted, pushes “Venom” out of the way, scoring $19 million over the “Venom” third weekend of $18 million. In another Top Five battle, “Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween” with $9.7 million, overtook Damien Chazelle’s “First Man,” which fell to $8.3 million in its second weekend. “The Hate U Give” had a nice bump within the Top Ten, going from Number Nine to Number Six. Plus, Robert Redford’s “The Old Man & The Gun” took a five spot jump into the Top Ten, pushing out Jack Black’s “The House With A Clock In Its Walls.”

Jonah Hill’s directorial debut “Mid90s” took home the Popcorn Award, which goes to the biggest per theater average winner. In its first weekend, it made an average of $64,539 in only four theaters. Its closest competitor was fellow first weekender “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” starring Melissa McCarthy, which earned an average of $32,302 in five theaters. Some notable increases include the documentary “Free Solo” which jumped up four spots to Number 12 and “The Sisters Brothers,” which jumped up six spots. “The Meg,” which had already fallen off the list to Number 33, returned by just cracking the Number 25 spot. But the big story goes to the Golden Percentage Award winner, “The Oath.” Directed by Ike Barinholtz, the film was released last week and landed at Number 42. But thanks to a 290 screen roll out, the film increased by a huge +682.1%. The closest anything in the Top 25 comes to matching that is the uptick by “The Hate U Give,” which was only an increase of +337.7%. This biggest drop off the list this week was “Hell Fest” in its fourth weekend, dropping -87.8%. Joining it, as predicted, were “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation” after fifteen weeks and “The Predator” after six. Also, the Glenn Close drama “The Wife” fell off the list, along with Jennifer Garner’s “Peppermint,” after ten and seven weeks respectively.

Nothing will make a play at “Halloween” next weekend, as it aims for somewhere above $40 million, which will likely leave “A Star Is Born” at Number Two and “Venom” at Number Three. The first new release of the weekend on the List will likely be the Gerard Butler-Gary Oldman film “Hunter Killer,” searching for a $7.5 million opening. Then expect “Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween” and “First Man” to continue their battle for the last spot in the Top Five. The faith-based film “Indivisible” along with the Rowan Atkinson comedy “Johnny English Strikes Again” will be looking to land on the Top Five. “Suspiria” is super limited this weekend, so it may take a few weeks for it to finally crack the list. Falling thirteen spots in the last two weeks, “A Simple Favor” is circling the drain on the Top 25. “The Meg,” which returned this week, will likely not be sticking around for long. And I personally believe “Andhadhun” has seen its last weekend.

BOX OFFICE KING: “Halloween” (2018)
BOX OFFICE QUEEN: “A Star Is Born” (2018)
POPCORN AWARD*: “Mid90s”
GOLDEN PERCENTAGE AWARD**: “The Oath”

#	Title	Weekend	Total	Budget	Week	LW	CH
1	Halloween (2018) (Uni)	$76,221,545	($76,221,545)	$10m	1st	N
2	A Star Is Born (WB)	$19,051,082	($126,127,328)	$36m	3rd	#2
3	Venom (Sony)	$18,043,887	($171,063,982)	$100m	3rd	#1
4	Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (Sony)	$9,721,173	($28,810,985)	$35m	2nd	#4
5	First Man (Uni)	$8,327,135	($29,762,185)	$59m	2nd	#3
6	The Hate U Give (Fox)	$7,602,108	($10,743,981)	$23m	3rd	#9
7	Smallfoot (WB)	$6,576,876	($66,327,911)	$80m*	4th	#5
8	Night School (Uni)	$4,892,515	($66,799,340)	$29m	4th	#6
9	Bad Times At The El Royale (Fox)	$3,420,067	($13,461,868)	$32m	2nd	#7
10	The Old Man & the Gun	$2,134,481	($4,285,337)	**	4th	#15
11	The House With A Clock In Its Walls (Uni)	$1,813,390	($65,000,980)	$42m	5th	#8
12	Free Solo (NGE)	$1,022,204	($3,605,848)	**	4th	#16
13	The Sisters Brothers (AP)	$757,975	($1,986,693)	$38m*	5th	#19
14	Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer (GVN)	$640,283	($2,453,903)	$2.4m*	2nd	#12
15	Colette (BST)	$619,810	($3,710,063)	**	5th	#14
16	Crazy Rich Asians (WB)	$539,848	($172,250,049)	$30m	10th	#13
17	The Nun (WB)	$416,651	($116,747,614)	$22m	7th	#10
18	Beautiful Boy (2018) (Amazon)	$415,735	($698,687)	$25m*	2nd	#20
19	A Simple Favor (LGF)	$359,889	($52,901,579)	$20m*	6th	#11
20	Mid90s (A24)	$258,157	($258,157)	**	1st	N
21	The Oath (RAtt)	$227,400	($265,296)	**	2nd	#42
22	Incredibles 2 (BV)	$173,845	($607,713,414)	$200m*	19th	#22
23	Can You Ever Forgive Me? (FoxS)	$161,510	($161,510)	**	1st	N
24	Andhadhun (Eros)	$147,779	($959,504)	$3.4m*	3rd	#18
25	The Meg (WB)	$138,454	($142,839,245)	$130m	11th	#33

<<<ALL DOMESTIC NUMBERS FROM BOX OFFICE MOJO>>>>

OFF THE CHARTS THIS WEEK

(OFFICIALLY CLOSED)

*POPCORN AWARD goes to the highest per theater average within the Top 25 List
**GOLDEN PERCENTAGE AWARD goes to the highest increase within the Top 25 List