It’s not often you see the same record broken twice in one month, but there’s a good chance that the October record set by Venom less than two weeks ago is slashed by the arrival of Universal’s Halloween reboot. Meanwhile, The Hate U Give, The Old Man and the Gun and The Sisters Brothers all expand nationwide after mixed results in limited release.

Based on Fandango presales and early buzz, it seems as though there is a real chance that Halloween manages to topple Venom‘s $80 million start. This is especially impressive considering it was produced for just $10 million – a tenth of Venom‘s already comparatively slim budget. So why is Halloween capturing so much attention? Well, a solid groundwork from a very recognizable character is a solid start, with the Michael Myers mask standing as one of the most iconic villains in horror history.

However, that doesn’t explain how a franchise whose biggest opening was just $26 million is now toying with a debut that’s quadruple that number. Chalk it up to strong marketing that has effectively sold the film to fans of the original, and newer horror audiences who only know the franchise through its iconography and pop culture references. Tapping into that market will allow it to easily become the biggest opener in the franchise by a landslide. Universal is currently expecting an opening of $50 million, but don’t be surprised when it goes much higher.

The biggest of the three titles expanding this weekend is The Hate U Give, which Fox is sending into 2,300 locations. Unfortunately, the YA drama hasn’t exactly been performing terribly well in limited release – initially starting out in 36 locations, before expanding to over 200 last weekend. Considering those were likely its biggest markets, don’t expect much of a jump in nationwide release. Fox is expecting mid to high single digits, and ultimately an opening of around $5-7 million seems likely, though hardly ideal, considering its $23 million price tag.

Additionally, both The Old Man and the Gun and The Sisters Brothers are going nationwide with startlingly high theater counts. The Old Man and the Gun is expanding into just over 800 locations, while Annapurna decided to burn money with The Sisters Brothers, expanding it into a whopping 1,141 – despite the fact that it barely averaged $2K from just 129 theaters last weekend. Ultimately, The Old Man will likely do slightly better business, but it wouldn’t be at all surprising if these both came in under $1 million for the weekend.

Finally, A24 will release their critically acclaimed coming of age dramedy mid90s into four locations, before expanding nationwide next weekend.

Predictions

Halloween – $76 million A Star is Born – $18.5 million Venom – $17 million First Man – $10 million Goosebumps 2 – $9.7 million

The Hate U Give – $5.2 million