Halloween Movies, Ranked by Box Office Success

The 13-movie Halloween series, much like its main villain Michael Myers, appears to be immortal, as it continues to resurface even after being seemingly killed off in Halloween Ends. It’s rumored that another reboot is on the horizon. This franchise has a complex chronology, largely due to multiple timeline resets. To elaborate, the first two films follow “The night he came home,” while the third film is a standalone story without Myers. The Thorn Trilogy consists of movies four through six. Seven and eight were produced during the post-Scream era. Nine and ten were under Rob Zombie’s direction, and lastly, eleven through thirteen fall under the David Gordon Green years.

Among those periods, some perform more successfully than others, and interestingly enough, the ones that excel often include Jamie Lee Curtis, who has starred in eight out of the thirteen films collectively, including her voice-over role in “Halloween III: Season of the Witch.” Below is a ranking of their success at the box office, with figures adjusted to 2025 dollars.

This version aims to provide a more conversational and accessible tone while maintaining the original information.

13) Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers — $20.8 Million

The fifth Halloween movie, titled “Halloween 5: Michael Myers’ Return,” failed to impress audiences as something unique or exceptional. Its marketing didn’t offer anything particularly enticing, and given its reputation as one of the weaker entries in the series (although it’s not universally panned), much of its box office success during the opening weekend was likely all it would make.

The movie earned slightly more than $5 million upon release, falling short by about $1.8 million compared to Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers from the previous year. Unfortunately, its earnings didn’t improve significantly, reaching a total of only $11.6 million against a production budget of $5.5 million. As a result, it was decided that Michael Myers needed a break for a while. However, it wasn’t solely due to franchise exhaustion, as by 1989, the enthusiasm for Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, and the slasher genre in general was dwindling. Given the high volume of slasher films that had been released between 1980 and the end of the decade, it might have made a greater impact if it had followed through on the fourth film’s promising conclusion.

12) Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers — $31.8 Million

As a die-hard movie enthusiast, I must confess my disappointment upon the resurrection of Michael Myers after a six-year hiatus, this time under Dimension Films, which felt more like a placeholder than a true sequel in the franchise. Much like its predecessor, The Revenge of Michael Myers, it seemed to have failed to ignite the same fervor among fans. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers stands out as an enigmatic film, riddled with signs of a tumultuous production process – cuts and patches that are palpable in the final product.

The Thorn storyline, initially hinted at in the fourth film and officially introduced in the fifth, takes center stage here, but unfortunately, it failed to resonate with viewers as effectively as intended. In 1989 and again in 1995, audiences didn’t seem to find this narrative thread compelling enough.

Despite Paul Rudd being a beloved actor globally, it’s challenging to discern his intent in this particular performance. Critics and viewers alike panned his acting in the movie “Curse“, contributing to the film’s disappointing box office performance. With a gross of $15.1 million, the movie fell flat, though it should be noted that this was three times its production budget.

11) Halloween III: Season of the Witch — $47.9 Million

In contrast to Halloween II’s modest budget of 2.5 million dollars, the following year saw the release of Halloween III: Season of the Witch, which was Michael Myers-absent and had a production cost that almost doubled, amounting to 4.6 million dollars.

The movie is attractive and age has only improved it, yet initially, viewers didn’t seem to appreciate it. Despite having only two films in its series, it was challenging to distinguish Halloween from Myers. Indeed, Season of the Witch surpassed its production cost by more than triple, but that wasn’t convincing enough for those running the franchise to continue with the anthology approach (which started with this film).

10) Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers — $48.2 Million

Despite being hailed as one of the top slasher sequels, “Halloween 4: The Return of the Michael Myers” was met with a somewhat indifferent response at the box office. A gap of six years between “Halloween III” and “The Return of Michael Myers” might have been too long for fans to build anticipation for the character’s return.

The fourth Halloween film certainly lives up to its name. It’s quite debatable, but many would agree that overall, it’s the second finest installment in the series. However, despite this, it managed to earn just $17.8 million in 1988 equivalent dollars, while only spending $5 million.

9) Halloween II (2009) — $59 Million

In contrast to many sequels, Rob Zombie’s Halloween II (2009) had the same production budget as its predecessor from 2007, which was $15 million. This means it didn’t need to achieve exceptional box office numbers to make a profit.

As a die-hard horror enthusiast, I have to admit that while Zombie’s reboot wasn’t a box office sensation, it certainly held its ground quite well. However, the movie was incredibly unsettling, veering so far from the familiar Michael Myers narrative that it felt almost alien. Compared to the 2007 film, this Zombie-directed sequel felt more like a Zombie production than a Halloween installment. It’s no surprise that many fans who flocked to cinemas for the original might have been deterred by the title change from Halloween to Halloween II. In domestic theaters, ticket sales dropped by around 43% compared to the 2007 film. That’s a significant decrease, but not as dramatic as the 73% drop it experienced in international markets.

8) Halloween: Resurrection — $67.2 Million

Approximately $54.1 million of the earnings for Halloween: Resurrection was generated from domestic theaters. This amount is nearly identical to the unadjusted total that Halloween H20: 20 Years Later made in domestic sales.

To put it simply, the film titled “Resurrection” was considered the least successful in the entire franchise, selling only about half as many tickets in the U.S. compared to its predecessor. Abroad, it earned approximately a third of what “H20” did. The initial excitement of reintroducing Michael Myers into a world post-“Scream” had faded, and this was enough to halt the IP for five years due to lackluster performance.

7) Halloween II (1981) — $90.1 Million

Compared to Carpenter’s original Halloween, Halloween II sold roughly a fourth of its tickets. Despite being released only three years after the first film, the sequel had an eightfold increase in its production budget compared to the original.

Essentially, Halloween II didn’t earn as much money as the original film. Compared to Carpenter’s masterpiece, it wasn’t quite up to par. Few horror movies can match that level of success. It wasn’t destined to be a cultural sensation like the first one was. It wouldn’t enjoy repeat viewings or the positive buzz that the original received. However, if we judge it based on its own merits, Halloween II was indeed successful as it made ten times its production cost.

6) Halloween Ends — $114.4 Million

The title of “Halloween Ends” suggests a definite conclusion, which might have made it as significant an occasion as the 2018 film. However, some viewers found the intense violence in “Halloween Kills” off-putting, and “Halloween Ends” does not fully live up to its title’s promise. In fact, it barely delivers on being a Michael Myers movie altogether.

To put it simply, the optimistic projection for this highly controversial movie was that it would have a strong debut and then decline sharply in earnings. Unfortunately, this turned out to be accurate. The film had an opening of $40 million, which isn’t disastrous for a movie with a budget of $33 million, but it fell far short of the $76 million opening of the 2018 film and didn’t even reach the $49.4 million opening of Halloween Kills. After that, it experienced a significant drop in revenue, ending its domestic run with just $64 million.

5) Halloween (2007) — $124.5 Million

Reframing the statement in a simpler and more conversational manner: Rob Zombie’s Halloween remake proved that even a reboot of a lesser-known franchise like Michael Myers could be profitable. On home soil, it grossed an adjusted $90.2 million, which is roughly double the earnings of Resurrection.

To summarize, the movie didn’t perform exceptionally well internationally, earning around $22.2 million at that time (equivalent to approximately $35 million in 2025). Despite this, it was a massive success for Zombie, generating revenue over five times its initial production budget.

4) Halloween H20: 20 Years Later — $147.9 Million

Three years following “Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers,” it was determined that the character of Michael Myers on his own wasn’t sufficient to drive the success of “Halloween.” Therefore, Jamie Lee Curtis’ character Laurie Strode was reintroduced into the series. This decision led to one of the franchise’s greatest achievements up until then. It outperformed the fourth, fifth, and sixth installments in ticket sales combined.

Back in 1998, I was part of the team that brought “Halloween H20: 20 Years Later” to the big screen, and I’m proud to say it raked in a staggering $55 million in domestic box office sales, with an additional $20 million estimated from overseas. It was quite the slasher event, breathing new life into the franchise we all loved. However, the momentum didn’t last long as “Halloween: Resurrection” unfortunately took over the scene.

3) Halloween Kills — $158 Million

In contrast, Halloween Kills debuted both in theaters and on Peacock, but its production budget was double that of the 2018 movie. However, it managed to earn only about half as much revenue compared to the initial film in the trilogy.

In North American cinemas and Peacock streaming, Halloween Kills earned approximately $108.9 million – a significant decrease compared to its 2018 counterpart. However, considering it was a film produced during the pandemic era, with a simultaneous digital release, it’s only fair not to be too critical of its drop. Firstly, it was a COVID-era film, which explains the dual release strategy. Secondly, the 2018 Halloween movie had exceptional marketing and created quite a buzz due to the long-awaited return of Laurie Strode and Michael Myers after another 20-year gap (ignoring the poor opening scene of Resurrection).

2) Halloween (2018) — $332 Million

In a more relaxed and understandable manner: David Gordon Green’s movie “Halloween” was a blockbuster hit, unlike most slasher films. This was largely due to excellent marketing, causing it to surpass even the previous performance of the franchise when Jamie Lee Curtis reprised her role as Laurie Strode.

The initial release in just domestic theaters earned Halloween (2018) a staggering $203.6 million (adjusted from $159.3 million), which is an impressive sum for a slasher film, particularly an A-list sequel. With additional earnings of $100.6 million, this movie returned 26 times its original budget of $10 million. While Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends didn’t perform as strongly, their lower box office results were anticipated.

1) Halloween (1978) — $345.1 Million

Among John Carpenter’s masterpieces, the film “Halloween” was a significant cultural phenomenon upon its release in 1978. While “Psycho,” released almost two decades prior, may hold a similar title, it is undeniably “Halloween” that sets the foundation for the slasher movie subgenre.

Not only was it significant, but it also proved to be highly lucrative. With a production budget capped at $325,000, Halloween managed to rake in approximately $70 million globally, with an impressive $47 million earned domestically. Among all its predecessors, only the 2018 release has come close to matching its box office success.

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2025-06-22 04:41