Final Destination Wins Horror Showdown

Published by Jeff Leins on: August 30th, 2009

The Final Destination took the top spot this weekend with an estimated $28.3 million, easily beating the other horror opener Halloween II.

The fourth in the WB/New Line franchise, The Final Destination, scored the largest opening of the horror series by introducing a 3-D gimmick to the Rube Goldberg death formula.  Despite the familiar, yet definitive title the deaths will likely continue after a successful weekend finish.

The Weinstein Company stubbornly refused to get out of the way with its own horror sequel, Halloween II.  Inexplicably competing with Inglourious Basterds, which it released last week and did well in second, TWC stood its ground on a busy R-rated weekend even as their target audience (high school seniors to college kids) head back to school.  The result was third place with $17.4 million, a significant drop from Rob Zombie’s 2007 remake.

The Internet marketing for the slasher sequel had Michael Myers appearing in familiar banner ads like “Mac vs. PC,” the sexy singles, and the boogeying buffoons to abduct the annoying personalities.  They’re pretty funny until you remember that everyone already subconsciously ignores those ads.  The relentless TV spots touted it with “Rob Zombie completes his extreme vision,” so hopefully this means we won’t see more Halloween as Zombie moves to slash apart another horror classic.

Ang Lee’s comedic Taking Woodstock, the other wide newcomer, performed as expected in its 1,393 locations with $3.7 million.

3-Day U.S. Weekend Estimates:
1. The Final Destination $28.3 million
2. Inglourious Basterds $20 million
3. Halloween II $17.4 million
4. District 9 $10.7 million
5. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra $8 million
6. Julie & Julia $7.4 million
7. The Time Traveler’s Wife $6.7 million
8. Shorts $4.9 million
9. Taking Woodstock $3.7 million
10. G-Force $2.8 million