Halloween Might Be One of the Worst Box Office Weekends of 2025

Halloween weekend is just days away, and the box office lineup looks surprisingly weak for what's traditionally one of the most lucrative periods of the year.

According to early tracking and the current release slate, no film is projected to crack $20 million at the domestic box office.

The top spot from this weekend went to Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc, an anime film from Sony and Crunchyroll that opened to $17.3 million, per Box Office Mojo.

Below that sit Black Phone 2, Regretting You, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, and Tron: Ares—none of which are expected to make significant gains over the actual Halloween weekend.

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A Historic Low for 2025

The combined weekend haul is tracking toward roughly $60 million total, which would make this one of the lowest-grossing weekends of 2025.

That's a stark contrast to what Halloween weekend has traditionally delivered and to what 2025 has shown it's capable of.

Looking at data from The Numbers, weekends earlier this year regularly topped $100 million. Superman opened in July with $125 million domestically. The Fantastic Four: First Steps pulled in strong numbers in August. Demon Slayer dominated September with massive opening figures.

Halloween weekend, by comparison, looks anemic and it hasn't even arrived.

The current number-one deserves some context. As The Hollywood Reporter noted, Chainsaw Man has been praised by critics and audiences, earning a 96% critics score and 99% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. The film has already crossed $108 million globally since opening in Japan last month.

But it's still a niche title aimed primarily at existing fans of the manga and anime series. While $17.3 million is respectable for an anime release (and is technically an upset for the weekend), it's not the kind of number that typically headlines Halloween weekend.

And with the film now in its second weekend domestically, it will almost certainly see the standard dropoff.

Where Are the Horror Films?

That's the obvious question.

Halloween weekend has typically been prime real estate for genre releases. Studios usually counterprogram against family-friendly fare or lean into what audiences naturally crave during spooky season. This year, however, the calendar feels weirdly barren.

Black Phone 2 is the closest thing to a Halloween-appropriate release in the current top five, but it's been out since Oct. 17. There's no major horror tentpole, no mid-budget thriller banking on seasonal interest, no studio taking advantage of what should be a guaranteed audience.

Horror remains one of the most reliable genres at the box office. That no studio positioned a horror release for this specific weekend feels like a missed opportunity.

Or a sign that confidence in theatrical windows continues to waver.

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What This Means for the Rest of 2025

Halloween weekend traditionally marks the start of the final stretch before the holidays, when studios begin rolling out awards contenders and family blockbusters.

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere is specifically a bit oddly placed (and early) for awards season. With its mixed reviews, it likely would have struggled in the thick of buzzier awards releases like Marty Supreme and Wicked, but still, the October premiere date is somewhat confusing, when it probably would have benefited from holiday crowds looking for an easy watch.

A weak Halloween could mean that studios are just holding back their strongest titles for later, or that audiences aren't choosing to visit their local theater this season. Either way, it doesn't bode well for exhibitors hoping to finish 2025 strong.