For the weekend of September 7-9, Halloween was the number two movie in the United States, grossing an estimated $10 million.

 

It’s interesting to view this as anything but a strong showing for a remake released a full two months before its namesake—the holiday that typically marks the high season for horror films.

 

Yet this is how USA Today summarily characterized the film’s box office performance:  “Rob Zombie's Halloween dropped a sizable 67% from its three-day total last weekend, taking second place and $10 million.

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What’s missing from that analysis is that the “drop” is relative to Halloween’s own record-setting opening.  Moreover, this past weekend’s leader, 3:10 to Yuma, grossed only about $4 million more in its opening weekend than Halloween did in its second.  Also interesting is that Halloween held its ground against competitors going for roughly the same demographic such as Shoot ‘Em Up.

 

In any case, the numbers are often the least interesting part of the business.  However, I always like seeing that there’s public interest in a thoughtful handling of archetypal horror material—which Zombie’s film represents, even if one deems it not entirely successful.  (Translation:  It’s not a waste of time that I’ve written three different pieces about Halloween.  This is a movie that people are seeing, thinking about, discussing, and debating.)