The Halloween movies have been one of the most profitable franchises in horror film history.
The ten movies have a combined total budget of about $80,000,000 but have went on to gross over $370,000,000!
This list ranks all ten movies in order of financial success. All totals are adjusted for today’s dollars to compensate for inflation as that is the only way to make a truly accurate comparison.
1. HALLOWEEN (1978) –
It should be no surprise that the original and the best entry of the franchise is king of the mountain.
Although shot in only a few weeks in the spring of 1978 and on a shoestring budget of $320-$325,000 this movie grossed $60,000,000 by 1979…in today’s dollars that’s roughly a whopping $210,000,000!
2. HALLOWEEN (2007) –
This entry with Rob Zombie behind the helm proved to be more of a prequel/remake giving a back-story and look into the mind of Michael Myers.
Though it had mixed reviews, no one can deny its success. The movie grossed $80 million by the end of 2007 or just over 84 million when adjusted with inflation.
3. HALLOWEEN: H20 (1998) –
The seventh movie in the franchise ignored all the entries from Halloween 2 through Halloween 6 and the formula worked financially.
The film was the most expensive of the franchise costing $17 million to make but it grossed $55 million. That’s $73 million dollars today.
4. HALLOWEEN II (1981) –
It took 3 years after the original Halloween for Michael to appear again.
While not the critical and financial success of the original, it is still a great movie that has held up well over the years. The movie grossed a little over $25.5 million in 1981, which equals roughly $60.5 million today.
5. HALLOWEEN: RESURRECTION (2002) –
As of now this has been the last entry in the original series.
Much like Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN II it can be argued that this films financial success came off the heels of the success of its predecessor.
Nevertheless, at $37.7 million grossed in 2002 (45.5 when adjusted with inflation) the film comes in at a respectable midway point on the list.
6. HALLOWEEN II (2009) –
Though received poorly (for the most part) by critics and fans alike, the movie grossed a respectable amount at $33.4 million or about $34 million after inflation.
7. HALLOWEEN 4: THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS (1988) –
Barely missing the #6 position on the list, H4 comes in at #7 with an adjusted for inflation $32.4 million grossed.
8. HALLOWEEN III: THE SEASON OF THE WITCH (1982) –
Fans were not happy that a Halloween movie came out and did not feature Michael Myers (although Dick Warlock who played Michael Myers in Halloween II returned as a different character).
The movie grossed $14.4 million in 1982 which is equivalent to about $32.1 million today.
9. HALLOWEEN: THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS –
Sadly the last movie with the great Donald Pleasance. Halloween 6 comes in at #9 on the list just inching past the movie at #10.
Halloween 6 grossed about $21,410,000 in adjusted for inflation earnings.
10. HALLOWEEN 5: THE REVENGE OF MICHAEL MYERS (1989) –
There must be some truth to the curse of Thorn, both Halloween movies featuring this concept place in the bottom two of the list.
At just over $20.2 million adjusted, Halloween 5 gets the honor of the least successful entry of the franchise.
Not bad considering it still made about 4x the amount it cost to produce!
Hope you enjoyed the list.
The estimates were compiled to be close enough as to NOT compromise the rankings of the movies based on their gross earnings.
I’m surprised that H4 and H6 are relatively low on the list. H4 was a popular movie when it came out, debuting at #1 in its first week.
H6 showed the enduring popularity of the franchise. While it came years after H5, H6 still managed to open at #2 with very little promotion. (i don’t know how i remember these things)
I’m surprised that H8 did better than these films. It opened at #4 (despite it’s goofy trailer), but it quickly disappeared from theaters.
As for H5, it doesn’t surprise me at all that it’s the last film on the list lol. H4 was still popular and would’ve hit the rental market as H5 hit theaters. The H4 rental was probably competing against the H5 movie.
RZ’s H2 didn’t have a long run in the theaters either. It was poorly promoted, trashed by critics and the trailer wasn’t interesting (aside from revealing that a ghost was in it and Myers could lift a car).
Knowbody, I was rather surprised myself at the outcome of this to be honest!
Halloween III, RZ’s H2 and Resurrection were my biggest surprises! I wouldn’t have thought they would have did that well and I (like you) would have expected Halloween 4 to go much higher…somewhere around the 3rd or 4th position.
Yep, H4 barely beating H3 is a HUGE surprise. That’s got to be a misprint. And the original HALLOWEEN taking in over $200 mill for today’s standards is almost unbelievable!
Sangria, I was surprised at some of the results myself but I checked several choices before compiling the list.
I too would have thought Halloween 4 would have been much more successful than Halloween III but I believe HIII did fairly well due to Halloween II.
Halloween II was successful and most people who first went to see Halloween III didn’t know Michael wasn’t in the movie. Resurrections and Rob Zombie’s Halloween 2 also did fairly well even though they weren’t that great. This is (imo) because they followed successful movies as well.
As far as the original Halloween that ond didn’t surprise me.
“Sources” not choices, lol (above type-o)
We're can u buy all the DVD off them