October 2025 will go down as one of the darkest months Hollywood has seen in three decades. The domestic box office took in just $425 million, marking the lowest October haul since 1997, not counting 2020’s pandemic-related shutdowns. The Halloween weekend itself was the weakest of the entire year, taking in just $49 million.
To put it in perspective, the last time numbers were this low, audiences were packing theaters I know what you did last summer, The devil’s advocate hero Al Pacino AND Keanu ReevesAND Kiss girls. Those films helped October 1997 gross $385 million, and that was almost 30 years ago.
While the month wasn’t a total disaster, the successes were few and far between. The new feature of the anime Chainsaw Man: The Movie – Reze Arc was one of the few bright spots, smashing through the competition to reach number one at the US box office in late October.
It managed to outperform other new releases like Shelby Oaks AND Springsteen: Free me from nothingproving that anime fans continue to attend amazing events on the big screen.
Unfortunately, one success story wasn’t enough to save the month. The destructive machinethe much-hyped sports biopic starring Dwayne Johnsonit failed with the lowest opening of Johnson’s career.
Meanwhile, Disney’s big sci-fi bet Tron: Ares it’s shaping up to be a huge loss for the studio, with projections estimating losses of over $130 million.
Box office analyst Jeff Bock told Variety: “This month’s major releases have failed to deliver. Just that. Aside from the moderate success Black phone 2there simply weren’t enough horror films to attract viewers. It should be a breeze.
October is traditionally horror’s playground, but this year offered little to shout about. Fans looking for a scare were limited to Black phone 2 AND Shelby Oakswhile larger genre titles like Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 AND Screams 7 they are waiting in the wings for their winter debut.
So what went wrong? A mix of weak releases, franchise fatigue, uninteresting films and questionable programming seems to have drained October of its usual Halloween energy. With streaming competition stranger than ever and audiences increasingly demanding, movie studios may want to rethink how they schedule the spooky season.
If there’s a silver lining, it’s that November has a busy schedule that could help turn things around, but after October’s slump, Hollywood has a long way to go to get audiences back in their seats.
by Joey Paur
Source: Geek Tyrant
Lloyd Grunewald is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. He is a talented writer who focuses on bringing the latest entertainment-related news to his readers. With a deep understanding of the entertainment industry and a passion for writing, Lloyd delivers engaging articles that keep his readers informed and entertained.
