When Michael Myers and Laurie Strode have their final showdown, fans will have their choice of where to see the confrontation.
Universal has announced that Halloween Ends, the next and presumably final installment in the long running franchise will debut on NBUniversal’s Peacock streaming service on October 14, the same day that it will open in theaters.
The film stars Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie, who has struggled in trying to defeat the silent masked slasher Michael Myers for the four decades since director John Carpenter’s original Halloween film debuted in 1978.
Last year’s Halloween Kills had a similar day-and-date release strategy but still had a $49 million opening weekend and a $92 million domestic final take at the box office.
Universal’s strategy for this release is a bit of a puzzle. Although theater-going has been seeing an up-rise as the COVID pandemic trails off, the actual release calendar for October is still relatively light. In fact, Halloween Ends is the first major release of the month, and that is still falling halfway through. The only other big title hitting theaters that month is Warner Brothers’ Black Adam, which opens the following weekend. It looks as if it should have plenty of room to make its money at the box office before hitting streaming. If anything this looks like a move to perhaps drive subscriptions to Peacock.
