«OK. I\u2019m going for one BOAST post. Biggest horror movie opening with a female lead,» Jamie Lee Curtis tweets about the opening of «Halloween»<\/b>
\nJamie Lee Curtis has broken new ground for women at the box office thanks to the role that first made her famous: Laurie Strode, the protagonist of \u201cHalloween\u201d and one of horror\u2019s most famous heroines.
This weekend, David Gordon Green\u2019s sequel to the 1978 slasher earned an opening of $77.5 million, making it the largest box office opening for a film with a woman over the age of 55 in the lead role.
\u201cJamie Lee Curtis is an absolute force of nature in this film,\u201d said Universal Domestic Distribution President Jim Orr. \u201cWe knew that we had something special with this actress and this role in a film that\u2019s decades in the making.\u201d
Also Read: ‘Halloween’ Director David Gordon Green on How He Pulled Off Michael Myers’ One-Shot Murder Scene
And Curtis certainly has bragging rights.
While many slasher films drive their box office off the appeal of their murderous antagonists \u2014 Freddy Krueger for \u201cNightmare on Elm Street,\u201d Jason Voorhees for \u201cFriday the 13th\u201d \u2014 \u201cHalloween\u201d has more than just the cold emotionless serial killer Michael Myers. It has the Golden Globe-winning Curtis playing Laurie, an actor\/character pair that perhaps can only be rivaled by Sigourney Weaver\u2019s Ellen Ripley in \u201cAlien\u201d when it comes to famous women in horror.
The \u201cHalloween\u201d franchise has indeed gone to Curtis to drive interest, as this 2018 sequel is her fifth appearance in the franchise. Along with the original, she also starred in \u201cHalloween II\u201d in 1981, \u201cHalloween H20\u201d in 1998 and \u201cHalloween: Resurrection\u201d in 2002, the last of which opened with Laurie finally meeting her demise at the hands of Michael. All three sequels have been widely regarded as inferior to the original, and the new film retcons them all out of the franchise\u2019s timeline.
Also Read: Andi Matichak on ‘Halloween’ Co-Star Jamie Lee Curtis: ‘She Really Took Me Under Her Wing’ (Video)
But this \u201cHalloween\u201d treats Laurie differently, both in Green\u2019s story and in Universal\u2019s marketing. For decades, \u201cHalloween\u201d has been the subject of feminist criticism, pinning it as the film that popularized the use of the \u201cfinal girl\u201d (the one survivor of the slasher film who is often a virgin while more sexually promiscuous women are killed off). Critics have also noted that while Laurie fights off Michael, he survives, and it ultimately takes several gunshots from Michael\u2019s psychiatrist, Dr. Loomis, to save her.
\u201cThe movie has bred 1000 PhDs, but\u2026 in retrospect, I know that was not the intention here. It was not a feminist statement. It had nothing to do with the fact that promiscuous girls died and the virgin lived, none of it,\u201d Curtis said in an interview with Bustle. \u201cIt was written as an emotional journey of a very vulnerable girl being chosen as the centerpoint of this story, where this vulnerable creature is in collision with pure evil, and she\u2019s somewhat an archetype of this young vulnerable dreamer.\u201d
But despite this, Laurie Strode has grown over the years to become an icon as a survivor who withstood the attacks of a cold, violent man, and one whom Curtis has said she is fond of for \u201cher resilience and her strength.\u201d
Now, 40 years later, the new \u201cHalloween\u201d and its marketing have completely embraced the image of Laurie as the ultimate survivor. The trailers for the film show her preparing for the day Michael breaks out of the psych ward and comes hunting for her again, arming her house with guns and a security system. And when Michael escapes, it\u2019s treated as the horror rematch of the century, with Laurie as the hunter.
Also Read: ‘Halloween’ Film Review: Jamie Lee Curtis Confronts Michael Myers in Stylish Sequel
Both critics and \u201cHalloween\u201d fans have responded positively to this new portrayal. Critics have given the film an 80 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, the highest for any sequel in the series, while fans gave it a B+ on CinemaScore. Even before the film was released, Strode\u2019s legacy led to a touching moment at San Diego Comic-Con, when a fan told Curtis that her performance was a source of strength for him when his home was broken into by a person with a knife.
\u201cI was scared out of my mind, and out of nowhere this thought inside of me went, \u2018Well, what would Jamie Lee Curtis do?’\u201d the fan told her. \u201cTo make a long story short, I\u2019m here today because of the way that you portrayed Laurie Strode. I\u2019m a victor today instead of a victim.\u201d
Prior to the film\u2019s release, comScore\u2019s Paul Dergarabedian noted that now was a better time than ever to bring \u201cHalloween\u201d back. As actors are returning to iconic roles decades after they first played them \u2014 see Harrison Ford in \u201cStar Wars: The Force Awakens\u201d and \u201cBlade Runner 2049\u201d \u2014 it\u2019s the right time to try that nostalgia appeal with one of horror\u2019s staple franchises.
\u201cAt a time when horror is more popular with moviegoers than its been in decades and there\u2019s a demand to see women in lead roles, [\u2018Halloween\u2019] is definitely going to be the film to watch not just this weekend, but all the way up to Halloween night.\u201d<\/p>\n

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