‘Halloween Ends’ Slides Beneath ‘Halloween Kills’ With $43 Million Box Office Opening

The final film of the David Gordon Green Halloween reboot trilogy has fans of the franchise divided and the director of the slasher is explaining the creative decisions he made for Halloween Ends.

Well, this is disappointing to hear.

As a long-term horror fan I know better than to trust a studio when it claims a film is the final outing for one of their iconic boogeymen.

J. Kim Murphy SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot points from “Halloween Ends,” which is now playing in theaters and available to stream on Peacock. Billed as the finale to a landmark horror franchise, “Halloween Ends” was marketed with little more than the promise of a final match-up between remorseless serial killer Michael Myers and his lifelong victim Laurie Strode, played again by Jamie Lee Curtis. But many viewers were shocked to discover much more than a marquee showdown when director David Gordon Green’s horror film released last weekend. There’s also young love, a bunch of laughs and a fresh threat facing the town of Haddonfield — all courtesy of Corey Cunningham, a new character played by Rohan Campbell.

“Halloween Ends” just opened in theaters, while also being made available on Universal’s streaming platform Peacock, and the response has been divisive to say the least. The third chapter of the new trilogy (once again directed by David Gordon Green and starring Jamie Lee Curtis) made $41.3 million at the box office opening weekend, a good number for sure but lower than the studio and box office prognosticators were predicting. (Elsewhere, Universal is claiming it was a smash for Peacock.) Critically, the results were just as middling.

A West Lothian cinema welcomed brave film buffs to screenings of the latest Halloween movie with an appearance of serial killer Michael Myers himself.

Kourtney Kardashian and her husband, Travis Barker, are no different. The newlyweds celebrated the premiere of , with their own Michael Myers-themed party over the weekend.Kourtney shared several shots of the spooky decorations on her Instagram Stories, starting with the pumpkin-lined path that guarded 15-foot red skeletons, featuring blue glowing eyes that greeted guests as they entered the couple's smoke-filled haunted home.Upon entering the front door, Kourtney captured a more enchanting scene, showing off a slew of carefully placed trees which gave the room a forest-like feel.

The Halloween Ends numbers are coming in, and the studio might not be so pleased.

“Halloween Ends” is here. And whether you think it’s ultimately satisfying, it does provide a conclusive finale for the trilogy that started in 2018 with David Gordon Green’s “Halloween” and continued with the blood-soaked sequel, 2021’s “Halloween Kills.” Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode, a part she first played in John Carpenter’s groundbreaking 1978 original, has her final confrontation with Michael Myers, the unstoppable serial killer who has haunted her for all of these years.Did good vanquish evil? Or was evil ultimately triumphant? And what if the ending you saw in theaters or on Peacock wasn’t the ending that was originally intended?TheWrap talked to co-writer/director David Gordon Green about the possible alternate endings of “Halloween Ends.”MAJOR spoiler warning for “Halloween Ends.” If you haven’t seen it yet, grab your butcher knife and head back now!During our chat about “Halloween Ends,” I brought up the premiere of “Halloween Kills,” which happened at Beyond Fest the year before.

J. Kim Murphy “Halloween Ends” may be the last we see of Laurie Strode and Michael Myers, but the horror series still kills at the box office. Universal’s slasher finale is off to a strong start, projecting a $43.4 million opening from 3,901 theaters. Even with “Halloween Ends” receiving a simultaneous streaming debut on Peacock, the film has managed to draw an impressive figure. It will earn more than enough to top weekend charts, sparking some life into what has largely been a muted season for moviegoing. “Ends” is tracking below last year’s franchise entry, “Halloween Kills,” which earned a $49 million domestic opening with its own day-and-date release. 2018’s “Halloween,” the first entry in this new sequel trilogy to John Carpenter’s landmark 1978 original, released exclusively to theaters, at a time before Peacock was anything more than a developing project at NBCUniversal. The film garnered a staggering $76 million — still the third-highest domestic debut ever for a horror film, after the two “It” entries.

franchise in 2018 with a direct sequel to the 1978 film, the ongoing saga between Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Michael Myers comes to a close two movies later, in, which is now in theaters and streaming on Peacock. Both Curtis, who has portrayed the former babysitter stalked by the masked killer for over 40 years, and director David Gordon Green break down the climax of the 2022 film that marks Laurie and Michael’s final (and bloody) battle. Curtis “takes the physicality of this role very seriously,” Green says.

The newest Halloween movie has finally premiered, and with it, officially ends Jamie Lee Curtis‘ run as Laurie Strode.

“Halloween Ends” is just beginning its rise at the box office.

Major spoiler warning for “Halloween Ends.” Do not read if you haven’t seen it (or are a complete sicko that is comfortable with having the movie totally ruined for you)!Much was made about the mantra spouted (repeatedly) in “Halloween Kills:” evil dies tonight. As Michael’s bloody murder spree whips the town of Haddonfield into a frenzy, the town becomes consumed with its own hatred – embarking on a misplaced quest to bring Michael down.

John Carpenter’s original score for his 1978 smash hit movie, the first Halloween, will always be a classic.

We said we wouldn’t do it. When we sat down and watched the entire “Halloween” franchise (12 films!) in a week to rank them before “Halloween Ends,” we said we didn’t need to discuss the finale because it was probably going to be just fine and exactly what we expected would happen.

“Halloween Ends” is upon us. The final film in the new “Halloween” trilogy is here, just a few short years after Jamie Lee Curtis returned to her iconic role of Laurie Strode for a new twist on the Michael Myers franchise – one in which the masked killer is not Laurie’s brother, but instead a strange madman who’s haunted her all these years.David Gordon Green returns to direct the third film in the trilogy after kicking things off with 2018’s “Halloween” and continuing the series with 2021’s “Halloween Kills.” But where can you witness this concluding chapter? Do you have to go to a theater, or is it streaming? And is this really the last “Halloween” movie?All your questions answered below.The film opens October 14.Both! The film will be playing in theaters but also streaming on Peacock the same day it opens.

William Earl This October, Variety has enlisted some our favorite spooky content creators to share their scary movie essentials. Matt Gourley and Paul Rust, whose podcast “With Gourley and Rust” analyzes horror franchises film by film since 2018, shared their picks for Coziest Horror Movies of All Time.

Halloween is a mere two weeks away, but Laurie Strode's decades-long showdown with Michael Myers comes to an end today. The third and final chapter of the modern trilogy, following 2018's  and 2021's , is now playing in theaters and streaming on Peacock. is the thirteenth installment in the franchise in which Jamie Lee Curtis faces off for the last time against the embodiment of evil. Watch NowNearly 45 years after John Carpenter's 1978 original — which you can watch on Amazon here — stars Jamie Lee Curtis as horror’s first “final girl” Laurie Strode. Curtis' portrayal of Laurie for more than four decades is one of the longest actor-character pairings in cinema history.

Independent projections predicted a $50 million opening weekend for the Universal and Blumhouse picture, on par with that of “Halloween Kills.” The 2021 sequel scored $4.9 million at its Thursday box office debut. In 2018, “Halloween” made $7.7 million on its first night and went on to earn an eye-popping $77.5 million from its opening weekend – the second highest of any rated-R horror movie at the time.Set four years after the events of “Halloween Kills,” “Halloween Ends” presents the last showdown between Laurie Strode (Curtis) and longtime nemesis Michael Myers.

Jordan Moreau “Halloween Ends” is just beginning — the final installment in the long-lived horror franchise picked up $5.4 million at the box office in Thursday night previews. The film should hack and slash its way to $50 million to $55 million in its opening weekend, according to projections, even with a same-day release on Peacock. Last year’s “Halloween Kills” opened to $49 million at the box office and had the same Peacock release strategy, so an even bigger launch would be bloody good for the Universal film. Jamie Lee Curtis’ PTSD-riddled survivor Laurie Strode faces off against psycho killer Michael Myers once again for the 13th entry in the franchise, and “Halloween Ends” promises to be the very last showdown between the two foes — at least, until another reboot comes knocking at the door. The “Halloween” timeline is as full of holes as one of Michael’s victims, but the latest movie caps off a trilogy of modern-day sequels that began with 2018’s “Halloween” and its 2021 sequel “Halloween Kills.” The three movies follow the events of John Carpenter’s original 1978 horror, which introduced audiences to Curtis in her film debut and the soon-to-be slasher icon Michael Myers. There have been a handful of other “Halloween” sequels and two rebooted films directed by Rob Zombie, but the new trilogy retcons those and catches up with Laurie and her family 40 years later.

Halloween Ends is now in theaters and Universal Studios has been promising fans that this is the “final chapter” of the franchise. So, is Michael Myers actually dead?

Jamie Lee Curtis‘ new horror film Halloween Ends is now playing in theaters and streaming on Peacock, so it’s time to talk about that shocking ending.

Halloween Ends is finally here.

Peacock Friday, you’ll consider taking Wite-Out to the title and changing it to “Halloween Keeps Going, Please.” Director David Gordon Green was deservedly lauded in 2018 for his superb first ‘ween film, which restored the Michael Myers vs. Laurie Strode death match to its 1970s gritty glory after a string of bombs in the 1990s and aughts.

If there’s a lesson to be learned from David Gordon Green’s trilogy of “Halloween” legacy-quels, it’s to quit while you’re ahead. His 2018 “Halloween” (a direct sequel to the original 1978 masterpiece and a ret-con of its many, many follow-ups) was a surprisingly effective combination of slasher reanimation and reconsideration, taking the horrors of that Halloween night, and its psychological effects on its survivors and the town where they happened, with uncommon seriousness (yet with flashes of self-awareness and humor).

Jamie Lee Curtis has shared a stunning picture to celebrate the release of the final chapter of her Halloween franchise.MORE: Jamie Lee Curtis looks impossibly glamorous in sheer mesh shirt and blazerThe snap showed Jamie, 63, holding a framed picture of herself taken during the 2018 press tour for Halloween; the picture from 2018 showed Jamie holding a framed picture of herself from the 1978 original film.WATCH: Halloween Ends trailer"On the day before the release of the last of @halloweenmovie I present the best photo example of the lineage, legacy, longevity of Laurie Strode, Halloween and the POWER OF SURVIVAL! It was taken by @aspictures and @micheleromeronyc," she captioned the post."This of course is really a photograph of everyone who has survived their lives. Through the looking glass we look back at our trials and tribulations and successes and joyful moments and we stand in solidarity with each other proud to be here excited about what the future holds."MORE: Jamie Lee Curtis' fans react to plastic surgery admission in furious rant on Lorraine – watchMORE: Jamie Lee Curtis shares first photo of daughter Ruby alongside heartfelt messageFans loved the look and the important message she told, with one fan writing: "Thank you for being such a special part of my love of film.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic The “Halloween” series, which comes to an end this weekend (and if you believe that, I have a set of very rusty kitchen knives I’d like to sell you), has always been the least pretentious of horror franchises. A towering killer in a rubber mask pops out of the shadows to slash one victim after the next. Horror doesn’t get much more basic than that. But, of course, the “Halloween” series has always had a pretentious side too — the side that began with Donald Pleasance droning on about eee-vil, and the side that has extended, over the latest trilogy, to the top-heavy handwringing of Laurie Strode’s self-actualized guilt and despair. As for Michael Myers, who started out as a small-town killer, he has been turned, more and more explicitly, into A Force Larger Than Himself. And in “Halloween Ends,” that trend now culminates in a movie where Michael, in a certain way, is barely in the movie; he’s the film’s totem, its mascot, its looming emblem of evil. “Halloween Ends” doesn’t finish off the franchise by being the most scary or fun entry in the series. (It should have been both, but it’s neither.) Instead, it’s the most joylessly metaphorical and convoluted entry.

“Halloween Ends” is here.The sequel — in theaters and on Peacock on Oct. 14 — concludes the trilogy that started with 2018’s “Halloween,” which wisely jettisoned most of the cumbersome backstory and mythology that had gummed up the subsequent sequels and spin-offs.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Get ready for more trauma to unfold. The newest film in the “Halloween” franchise hits theaters and streamers on Friday, Oct. 14 — meaning it’s officially spooky season. “Halloween Ends” is David Gordon Green’s third and final installment in the franchise’s trilogy series, and will hit Peacock on the same day as theaters for a rare day-and-date release, which Universal also rolled out for its predecessor film “Halloween Kills.” In “Halloween Ends,” Jamie Lee Curtis reprises her role as Laurie Strode as she faces Michael Myers for a final showdown. James Jude Courtney, Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Omar Dorsey and Kyle Richards also return to their original roles.

another new timeline of events. That particular one comes to a conclusion with “Halloween Ends” – in theaters and on Peacock on Oct.

Spooky season is here. When Halloween comes around, some think of trick-or-treating, spooky season decorations and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, but others go a tad darker, associating the holiday with bloody horror movies and jump-scares.

Angelique Jackson When Jamie Lee Curtis walked the black carpet outside the TCL Chinese Theatre on Tuesday night for the world premiere of “Halloween Ends,” she was less than 24 hours away from becoming permanently cemented into Hollywood history — or at least, more so than she’s already been — with a hand and footprint ceremony on Wednesday morning. “I’m, of course, thrilled, honored,” Curtis told Variety about being immortalized outside the theatre. “My family will be there with me, friends, colleagues, collaborators, the community of artists. I’m an artist, I get to make this work. I didn’t think I’d be an actor. I thought I’d be a cop. So the idea that I get to be an actor and do this beautiful work is really very powerful to me.”

$49.4 million last year and finished with a $92 million domestic total, and pre-release projections for “Ends” have it matching that opening mark with a $50 million opening. By contrast, the first installment in this “Halloween” revival in 2018 opened to $76 million on the way to a $159 million domestic total and $255 million worldwide, buoyed before its release by strong reviews from critics praising Jamie Lee Curtis’ return to her debut role, Laurie Strode, that expanded interest beyond the series’ most devoted fans. “Kills,” on the other hand, got much poorer reviews, with critics slamming the sequel for sidelining Laurie in the hospital instead of having her take the murderous Michael Myers head-on like she did in the first film.