BOX OFFICE: Michael Myers came home for $26.5 million

OK, a good opening but no better than H20. Remember what happened to the franchise after that movie?

By Matt Holmes / June 25, 2011

Rob Zombie's Halloween didn't quite reach the Mecca of $30 million but the Weinsteins will be pretty happy with their $26.5 million opening. We've talked in the past how much of a success Disturbia and 1408 were to open at number one this summer but Halloween has taken it a step further here. Despite some awful reviews and a big backlash on the web, the movie has become the highest grossing Labor day weekend in history. However, we should remember that it was only ten years ago that Halloween H20 opened to a similar gross and went on to make $55 million but the terrible reaction that movie received meant the following film would be less of a priority for Dimension. Certainly that's what Bob Weinstein hinted at this weekend. The second highest new entry was Balls of Fury, the outrageous ping pong comedy which opened to $11.6 million but without the big name stars like Will Ferrell or Ben Stiller who had filled out other similar comedies down the years, it couldn't go that extra mile to first place. Despite having a decent enough trailer the Kevin Bacon thriller Death Sentence opened to a truly awful $4.2 million. And you remember The Invasion? That sci-fi movie with Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman? It dropped all the way down to 19th this weekend and looks to bow out of cinema's some $67 million in debt. 1 Halloween (2007) $26.5 $26.5 2 Superbad (2007) $12.2 $89 3 Balls of Fury (2007) $11.6 $14.5 4 The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) $10.1 $199.6 5 Rush Hour 3 (2007) $8.5 $120.4 6 Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007) $5.9 $18.9 7 The Nanny Diaries (2007) $5.1 $15.2 8 Death Sentence (2007) $4.1 $4.1 9 War (2007) $3.6 $16.4M 10 Stardust (2007) $3 $31M

OPENING NEXT WEEK:

3:10 to Yuma, Shoot 'Em Up, The Brothers Soloman, Hatchet (limited), In the Shadow of the Moon (limited), I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With (limited), The Good Night (limited), The Bubble (limited)

MATTS PREDICTIONS FOR THE WEEKEND

1 Halloween (2007) $19M 2 Balls of Fury (2007) $13M 3 Superbad (2007) $11M 4 The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) $8M 5 Death Sentence (2007) $7M source - box office mojo, imdb