In a surprise move, Universal is sending Halloween Ends day-and-date to theaters and to its streaming service, Peacock. The previous film, 2021’s Halloween Kills, also debuted same day on Peacock.
The film launches Oct. 14, and it will be available to stream to those who have a paid subscription to Peacock Premium or Premium Plus. The ad-supported, free version will not carry the film.
Halloween Ends is the third and final installment in a rebooted Halloween franchise, starring original actor Jamie Lee Curtis and hailing from director David Gordon Green and horror super-producer Jason Blum. Halloween earned $255 million globally on a $10 million budget, while the sequel, Halloween Kills, earned $131 million. The third chapter picks up four years after Kills.
The film also stars Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Kyle Richards, Omar Dorsey, Nick Castle and James Jude Courtney. Malek Akkad and Bill Block produce alongside Blum.
Curtis made the announcement in a video message posted on social media, noting that a year ago the team put Halloween Kills day-and-date on streaming amid the thick of the pandemic.
“We discovered there are people who want to go to the theater and scream their guts out. We also discovered that there are people who want to stay at home and scream their guts out. … We got great results both from box office and from streaming,” Curtis said in the video. “This year, we want to make sure as many people can see Halloween Ends before Halloween, so we decided to give that same gift to fans again.”
Curtis — who made a big splash at CinemaCon earlier this year when thanking theater owners — herself gave a shout-out to seeing the movie on the big screen first. Said the actor: “You can do what I would do and go to the theater and then rewatch it at home again and then go back to the theater and then rewatch it at home again.”
In its latest earnings disclosure on July 28, Comcast said that Peacock had 13 million paid subscribers and 28 million active monthly accounts. The company took a $467 million loss related to Peacock last quarter, up from $363 million in the year-ago quarter.
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