What a haul-o-ween!

The latest “Halloween” sequel, starring a returning Jamie Lee Curtis, is set to break a franchise box-office record, taking in a projected $50 million this weekend. (It’s out in theaters on Friday.) Some reports suggest that number could end up as high as $70 million.

For comparison, the last series entry — 2009’s “Halloween 2,” directed by Rob Zombie — grossed just $33 million over its entire theatrical run.

Fifty million dollars is a huge debut for a movie made on the cheap (its budget was just $10 million) that’s rated R and is the 11th entry in a 40-year-old series. But it’s indicative of a larger trend that won’t die: These days, horror movies are a sure bet.

In the past few years, scary films have gone from being a cult sleepover indulgence to mainstream big business. Stephen King’s “It” had a $123 million opening weekend in 2017, and this year “The Nun” raked in $359 million worldwide. That’ll buy a lot of candy corn.

On the brighter side, these newly filled coffins — er, coffers — don’t suck as much as they used to. The darkly brilliant genre that once boasted Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining,” John Carpenter’s original “Halloween” and F.W. Murnau’s “Nosferatu” gave way in the 1980s and ’90s to magical creatures spouting one-liners in “Leprechaun” and “Child’s Play.”

That shtick was fun for a minute, but by the time we reached “Bride of Chucky” and “Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood,” the situation was dire. Horror films became boring.

Recently, the genre has reclaimed a bit of its original ambition with movies like the Oscar-winning social satire “Get Out” and even “The Purge,” which aims to make a Very Important political point, even if it’s a stupid one. The new “Halloween” follows suit by focusing on story and characters, rather than just gore and inside jokes, and making bold aesthetic choices.

Whatever the reason, the spooky renaissance shows no signs of slowing down. Americans have made their choice: They’d rather watch a serial killer on the prowl than Neil Armstrong become the “First Man” on the moon.