Jun 08 2009
Michael Myers Set to Battle Death
A horror showdown- set to take place August 28 in U.S. and Canadian theaters- pics the second Rob Zombie-directed Halloween film (H2) against the fourth (and supposedly last) Final Destination. (posters courtesy of MGM and New Line)
Looks like Michael Myers does not stand alone as the next big horror villain to invade theaters this summer.
Rob Zombie’s H2- the sequel to his 2007 reimagining of John Carpenter’s classic Halloween- is set to hit theaters August 28. Challenging H2 for the box office crown that very weekend will be the fourth installment of New Line’s Final Destination series, titled, fittingly, The Final Destination. (Social networking site MySpace last week premiered The Final Destination trailer.)
All of this year’s major horror releases- The Unborn, My Bloody Valentine 3-D, The Uninvited, Friday the 13th, The Last House on the Left, The Haunting in Connecticut, Drag Me to Hell- all debuted independent of other horror flick openings, making the head-on H2/The Final Destination scuffle possibly one for the box office record books.
The Final Destination series revolves around a teen’s premonitions of Death that, first, result in cheating it, and, eventually, for those who escaped it the first time around, falling victim to it, in rather gruesome manners. The series’ three films have grossed more than $150 million in the USA and Canada, with the most recent- 2006’s Final Destination 3- earning $19.17 million in its opening weekend and $54.1 million lifetime gross.
Can the Grim Reaper defeat Mr. Myers in the battle for box office domination? Zombie’s Halloween opened to $26.36 million in 2007, on its way to a final gross of $58.27 million.
Clearly, fans of both series will be out in force on opening weekend, and judging by the box office results of the prior films, it may be too close to call at this point. In The Final Destination’s favor, however, is the 3-D factor- the film will play at many 3-D theaters, which boast higher ticket prices than the regular 2-D multiplexes. Such an disadvantage could cost MGM’s H2 box office bragging rights once the weekend concludes.
Nonetheless, the weekend of August 28 will be a win-win for horror fans, as well as both films. Thanks to some healthy competition, H2 and The Final Destination could feed off each other and potentially score even bigger business.
We’ve seen Alien V.s Predator, and Freddy Vs. Jason- it’s about time we get to see Michael Myers directly fight one of horror’s most formidable killers.
