The box office is still struggling to return to anything approaching its former glories, but blockbuster horror has nonetheless managed to reassert itself as a hugely viable genre to a certain extent, even if James Wan’s Malignant flopped hard just over a week ago.
A Quiet Place Part II and The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It both earned in excess of $200 million globally, and they were the sequels to big hits, so it stood to reason that Halloween Kills was capable of achieving something similar. Of course, the movie’s commercial prospects took a sizeable hit when it was announced Michael Myers’ return had been slapped with a hybrid release, something that’s generated mixed reactions from fans and industry professionals alike.
To try and stem the tide of negativity, or perhaps push people into the direction of seeing it in a theater first and foremost, the official Halloween Kills Twitter account has hidden replies from Peacock, as per ScreenRant. Producer Jason Blum and director David Gordon Green would no doubt prefer it to be seen on the big screen, so that conflict of interest between the creative team and the distributor could be a factor in the decision.
Peacock hasn’t been advertising Halloween Kills too heavily as of yet, and with just over three weeks to go until release, hiding social media replies could be a concerted effort on Universal’s part to favor cinemas above all else. After all, it’s parent company NBCUniversal that owns and operates the streaming service, and they’ll be hoping to get the best of both worlds by bringing in box office dollars and new subscribers in equal measure.