Horror flick Come Play from Focus Features jumped out into first place on the Halloween weekend box office, earning $3.15M on its opening weekend. The action/revenge thriller Honest Thief from Open Road Films starring Liam Neeson dropped down from #1 last weekend to second place with $1.35M in its second weekend, earning a total of $9.5M after 10 days. Comedy The War with Grandpa earned $1.1M in weekend sales, now with $11.2M cume after 4 weeks, followed by Tenet with a cool $885K, still playing at 1600 locations in its 10th week in theatres. The Christopher Nolan thriller has earned $53.8M to-date in North America and $350M globally.

Click to play our Popcorn Previews Boxoffice Buzz video feature, with a look at next year's most anticipated releases, which include an incredibly strong lineup of event films, making 2021 The Year of the Tentpole.

After that sunny look ahead, our weekly news summary dissects the many challenges exhibitors are facing to make it that far. Studios continue to push back film releases, European markets are shutting down cinemas once again in response to spiking coronavirus infection rates. IMAX's CEO Rich Gelfond offers a note of optimism for the exhibition industry over the long term.

Now that the last two months of 2020 are upon us, Gower Street provides an early outlook on the numbers for 2021. The crystal ball is still cloudy, since studios have proven that they are willing to push back theatrical releases and redirect some titles to streaming if they determine that the climate for movie-going is not yet predictable.  Is 2021 ready for its closeup?   In the Hollywood Report, Martin Grove discusses the possible rationale for Studios and Streamers to dig into their deep pockets to buy up exhibitors at distressed valuations.

We offer a special video tribute to Sean Connery, and the impact that his roles as James Bond films had on the success of the Hollywood action spy thriller.

We conclude with our regular film data tables. The Weekly Film Calendar provides details on film releases through the end of the year. We report on last week's studio release changes, MPAA film ratings and important new trailers.