Another major change is coming to the upcoming release calendar — and yet another big movie is going straight to streaming the same day it premieres in theaters. This time it’s Halloween Kills, the highly-anticipated sequel to the hit revival of the Halloween saga from 2018.

The film, whicb like the previous Halloween was directed by David Gordon Green and stars Jamie Lee Curtis, was originally slated to open in theaters in October of 2020. The Covid pandemic wound up pushing that back to October of 2021, which, as you may know if you’ve looked at a calendar recently, is only a few weeks away.

With Covid cases still very high in large parts of the country, studios have begun pushing back some of their big fall releases to next year. And with Halloween Kills already a year behind schedule, and with another sequel titled Halloween Ends also awaiting release after this one, Universal has decided to move forward with its current release date, but to also premiere the film on its Peacock streaming service at the same time it hits theaters. It will only be available to paid Peacock subscribers — free users will have to upgrade to a $4.99 or $9.99 a month subscription to watch the new Halloween.

What impact that will have on the film’s box office remains to be seen. But it certainly gives Peacock a major tentpole release this fall at the same time Netflix is touting dozens of original horror films and shows this Halloween (the holiday, not the movie). While Netflix certainly has an edge in terms of quantity, I’m not sure any of their content is as big, at least for pure marquee value, as a Halloween sequel starring Jamie Lee Curtis.

Here’s Halloween Kills’ official synopsis:

Minutes after Laurie Strode (Curtis), her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) left masked monster Michael Myers caged and burning in Laurie’s basement, Laurie is rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, believing she finally killed her lifelong tormentor. But when Michael manages to free himself from Laurie’s trap, his ritual bloodbath resumes. As Laurie fights her pain and prepares to defend herself against him, she inspires all of Haddonfield to rise up against their unstoppable monster. The Strode women join a group of other survivors of Michael’s first rampage who decide to take matters into their own hands, forming a vigilante mob that sets out to hunt Michael down, once and for all. Evil dies tonight.

Halloween KIllls debuts on Peacock and in theaters on October 15. The film recently premiered at the Venice Film Festival and got only so-so reviews — it’s currently at 53 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

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