• "Halloween Kills" generated an estimated $50.35 million in ticket sales during its domestic debut over the weekend, despite also being made available on Universal's streaming platform Peacock.
• The film had the highest opening for a horror movie during the pandemic and the highest horror movie opening since "It: Chapter 2" was released in September 2019.
• Notably, more than 60% of audiences were aged 18 to 34, a key demographic in the movie industry, and the film saw a nearly even spread between male and female ticket buyers.

Audiences flocked to theaters over the weekend to see Universal and Blumhouse's latest horror flick "Halloween Kills."

The sequel to 2018's "Halloween" generated an estimated $50.35 million in ticket sales during its domestic debut despite also being made available on Universal's streaming platform Peacock over the weekend.

"Halloween Kills" had the highest opening for a horror movie during the pandemic and the highest horror movie opening since "It: Chapter 2" was released in September 2019.

"The results we had this weekend are just further proof that audiences want to be in theaters," said Jim Orr, president of domestic theatrical distribution at Universal Pictures. "There's something about this franchise and this genre that makes the communal experience of being in theaters just that much more exciting."

The film tallied $22.8 million on Friday, including Thursday previews, $17.2 million Saturday and is expected to haul in an additional $10.3 million Sunday.

Notably, more than 60% of audiences were aged 18 to 34, a key demographic in the movie industry, and the film saw a nearly even spread between male and female ticket buyers.

"The massive debut this weekend for 'Halloween Kills' offers further evidence of the power of the escapist thrills and entertainment value of good scare to generate stronger than expected movie theater revenue and all this despite the film's availability at home," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.

Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal is the distributor of "Halloween Kills."