Freaky director calls out studios for day-and-date releases after Halloween Ends box office numbers

Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween Ends — (Image credit: Universal Pictures)

Following the "lower than expected" box office opening of Halloween Ends, Freaky director Christopher Landon is calling out studios for releasing films in theaters and streaming services at the same time.

“Ooooooh I feel another rant coming on: Today it’s the Day & Date release strategy for Halloween Ends. Stop doing this. Please. It doesn’t work. Studios: stop gambling with filmmakers and their movies to try and prop up your fledgling streaming services,” Landon tweeted. "This happened to me on Freaky, and it destroyed us. We worked SO HARD to make a fun movie. Blood sweat and tears. Months away from our families. And for what?"

Freaky, which stars Kathryn Newton as a teenage girl who switches bodies with Vince Vaughn's middle-aged serial killer, was released in 2020 in both theaters and video-on-demand. The film took in $16 million against a $6 million budget.

"They love to use the term: 'two bites of the apple' but that’s just another way of saying 'we’re gonna use your movie as a Guinea pig' for our streaming service. Sorry. I begged the studio not to do this," he continued. "Either circle the wagons and protect it for theatrical or just go all in on streaming. Don’t split hairs. At least the Halloween folks were made whole. We got hosed. So yeah…bitter subject. PTSD."

Halloween Ends has only brought in $58 million so far against a $20–30 million dollar budget, thanks to its simultaneous streaming release with Peacock – though Universal reported it was the most watched film or series ever on the platform over a two-day period.

For more Halloween check out our guide on the Halloween Ends ending explained for a deep dive on everything that went down. For more scares, check out our roundup of the best horror movies ever to plan your next scary movie marathon.

Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ based in New York City. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.