Los Angeles (AFP) – Universal scarefest “Halloween Ends” scored a strong start this weekend, topping the North American box office with an estimated take of $41.3 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday. The movie, ostensibly the last in a long string of profitable “Halloween” films, again stars Jamie Lee Curtis in a tale replete with throat-slashing, choking, fatal falls and a mysterious masked sewer-dweller. Analysts had predicted a somewhat higher number: $50 million or so. But given the film’s simultaneous release on the Peacock streaming service and its production c…