Box Office: Hollywood 'Halloween' horrors hit heights

LOS ANGELES - America's thirst for big screen gore soared to new heights this weekend, as Jamie Lee Curtis returned to star in a revival of "Halloween'' -- and took the movie to an estimated $77.5 million in box office receipts this weekend.

Three of the five top movies this weekend in the United States were in the horror/slasher groove, and Hollywood box office receipts are nearly 55 percent ahead of last year at this point, on track to set a blistering industry record.

"Halloween'' enjoyed the second-biggest horror movie opening ever, said industry analyst Paul Dergarabedian at comScore. Its $77.5 million was the second-biggest October opening weekend ever, behind this month's "Venom,'' which opened three weekends ago with an $80 million debut.

The fourth iteration of "A Star Is Born'' was in second place, with $19.3 million this weekend and a cumulative domestic take of $126.4 million through Sunday.

And "Venom'' was still potent, bringing in an estimated $18.1 million in its third weekend. Its domestic total so far was pegged at $171.1 million.

"Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween'' was estrmated to bring in $9.7 million in its second weekend, for a total through Sunday of $28.8 million.

And the 1969 space odyssey "First Man'' was on track to bring in $8.6 million its second weekend, for a total of $30 million in North America through Sunday.

Rounding out the 10 most popular films in the United States and Canada this weekend, as estimated by the studios and gathered by comScore, were "The Hate U Give'' ($7.5 million), "Smallfoot'' ($6.6 million), "Night School'' ($5 million), "Bad Times At The El Royale'' ($3.3 million) and "The Old Man &The Gun'' ($2 million).