8 Reasons Why Halloween Just Blew Up At The Box Office
7. The Gap In Films
The last time a Halloween film was in theaters was nine years ago and the film was Rob Zombie's Halloween II. That film did not blow up the box office, making only sixteen million opening weekend in the US.
So what's the difference between Halloween in 2009 and Halloween in 2018?
Well, a lot, actually. But that gap is a key part of it. Since the franchise's inception in 1978, it never took more than a few years off. Even entire reboots of the franchise like Halloween H20 or Rob Zombie's Halloween came only three and five years, respectively, after the prior installments. But thanks to several false-starts over the years, the franchise has now laid dormant for the longest period of time it ever has and that build-up was practically palpable.
The time gap had also seen fellow near-constant slashers like the Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th franchises also come to a dead stop, which meant Michael's return to cinemas was a much bigger deal than it had ever been before. This Halloween film is the first horror film featuring a veteran horror icon to be released in theaters in over five years, and clearly audiences had been longing for them.