"Halloween II" may not have won the box office this weekend, but Weinstein Co. is taking a lesson from the movie that did as it prepares a sequel for next summer.

The independent studio's co-Chairman Bob Weinstein said today that the 3-D sequel, titled, appropriately enough, "Halloween 3D," is in development.

The investment it takes to shoot movies in digital 3-D has proved particularly lucrative for horror films. For "The Final Destination," this weekend's No. 1 movie, theaters with at least one 3-D screen earned 3.25 times as much as those that showed the movie in 2-D only, according to distributor Warner Bros. That's substantially higher than for other recent releases. The equivalent 3-D multiple for last month's "G-Force," for instance, was only 1.7 on its first weekend. For July's "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" it was 1.4 andm for June's "Up" it was 2.2. January horror flick "My Bloody Valentine" earned 6.4 times as much from 3-D theaters as it did from 2-D on its opening weekend.

Weinstein said Rob Zombie, who directed "Halloween II" and 2007's reboot of the 31-year-old horror series, won't return for "Halloween 3-D." He said the studio is in negotiations with a new director, whom he declined to name, who has experience in horror and has a "different take" on the franchise.

-- Ben Fritz

Photo: Tyler Mane in "Halloween II." Credit: Marsha LaMarca / Weinstein Co.