A scene from the movie Halloween released in 2018.
Source: Universal Studios
Deviating from its previous film release strategy, Universal revealed Thursday that it would debut “Halloween Kills” in theaters and in Peacock on October 15th.
The studio, which reached an agreement to release films for at least 17 days in cinemas before offering titles in the domestic market, wants to turn its latest horror film into an event and drive consumers to its service. transmission.
“Halloween Kills,” produced by Universal, Miramax and Blumhouse, was originally released for an exclusively theatrical version. It takes place right after the “Halloween” of 2018, which saw Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), her daughter and granddaughter leave the masked killer Michael Myers caged and lit in Laurie’s basement.
It is unclear whether Universal reached an agreement with movie chains to change the film’s release strategy. The company went under fire in early 2020 to switch to a day and date launch plan for “Trolls: World Tour.” At the time, this type of release was unprecedented in the industry and led Universal to negotiate with cinemas to play their films on the big screen for at least three weeks before offering them streaming or on demand.
Universal’s decision also comes amid renewed confidence at the national box office after Disney’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” shattered initial estimates for the weekend and set the box office record for the weekend of the Day. of Labor. The success of the latest Marvel movie led Sony to advance the release of “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” two weeks.
Among the latest movie releases, a pattern has emerged that suggests that when a movie is released on streaming platforms and in theaters at the same time, ticket sales at the box office are cannibalizing. However, Universal can’t be too worried about that, as horror movies tend to have small budgets and easily reduce the cost of production at the box office.
The 2018 “Halloween” had a budget of $ 10 million to $ 15 million. It earned more than $ 250 million worldwide.
Assuming “Halloween Kills” has a similar budget, even with a simultaneous release, it could be profitable during the opening weekend. After all, “Halloween” grossed nearly $ 80 million during its inauguration four years ago. Of course, with the ongoing pandemic, “Halloween Kills” is unlikely to reach that figure.
“Black Widow” currently holds the record for the highest opening weekend of a $ 80 million film released during the pandemic. “Shang-Chi” is the second highest with about $ 75 million in ticket sales during its first three days in theaters.
By giving up some box office sales, Universal hopes to attract audiences to Peacock. Notably, October 2020 was Peacock’s most-watched month of all time for horror and fantasy series and movies. By putting “Halloween Kills” at your service, Universal could generate significant registrations.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal is the distributor of “Halloween Kills.”