Two months before its theatrical release, Universal Pictures has slated Halloween Ends to debut on Peacock on the same day it hits theaters: October 14th. This isn’t unprecedented, as Halloween Kills, the previous film in the Halloween franchise, did the same thing.

For that film, it made sense. The box office hadn’t recovered from the pandemic yet, with even Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings crawling to $200 million after four weeks in theaters.

For Halloween Ends, it makes much less sense. The horror space is a much safer bet than it was in 2021. Strictly limiting things to Universal’s offerings, You Won’t Be Alone earned $264K (although this is only because only 147 theaters carried the film in the 144 days it was in theaters), The Black Phone earned $88.7 million. Nope earned $113.7 million and is not yet finished with its theatrical run. Halloween Ends could easily hit $130-150 million during a theatrical run, and have a second life on Peacock and home media, making enough to secure more Halloween films in a decade or two.

Furthermore, Halloween Ends is the first horror film of the fall season after a summer season with little to offer in the way of R-rated blockbusters. Universal would bring up Halloween Kills’ $49 million opening, with a $92 million domestic total, and the 2.8 million U.S. households watching the film on Peacock during the first thirty days of release.

The only other reason I can come up with is that Universal wants to pull in more subscribers for Peacock. That way, new subscribers will check out their originals like One of Us is Lying’s second season, debuting five days after Halloween Ends, or another Universal film like Nope or Beast. But heck, they got me with Marry Me back in March, so it works.

Either way you slice it, more people will get to see the supposed conclusion to the Halloween franchise.

Until next time!

Thanks to Thomas Stoneham-Judge from Movies For Reel, Shane Conto, Joseph Davis, David Walters, Ambula Bula, Matthew Simpson, Thom Blackburn, Aaliyah, Libby Stephenson, Destiny, and Roze for supporting Austin B Media on Patreon!