Boxoffice.com Has Their Weekend Estimate For “IT” At $81 Million Now
Forecast: Stephen King’s ‘IT’ Poised to Crush September & Horror Box Office Records
September used to be considered a “dump month” for the industry, but this year it promises to be anything but with a slew of buzzy, high profile movies on the slate over the next few weeks. First up is this weekend’s anticipated remake of Stephen King’s IT, which is tracking to potentially become the month’s biggest opener of all-time (current record-holders: Hotel Transylvania 2‘s non-adjusted $48.46 million in 2015 and Rush Hour‘s inflation-adjusted $62.56 million in 1998).
Our final analysis and forecast:
IT
Warner Bros. / New Line
PROS:
Regarded as one of Stephen King’s most popular, terrifying, and influential novels, the existing fan base spans several generations and has been anticipating this theatrical remake for decades. The nostalgic angle could also serve to boost appeal, especially among fans of Netflix’s Stranger Things which was loosely inspired by certain tonal elements from King’s works.
Social media trends have been extraordinary for a horror film, far out-pacing the Twitter and Facebook footprints of The Conjuring franchise and now lining up with R-rated, fan-driven films like Logan.
Sources tell Boxoffice that pre-sales have also been remarkably strong, coming in ahead of The Conjuring 2 by a significant margin. Fandango reports it is now their biggest pre-selling September release of all-time (beating Sully) and their best pre-selling horror title of all-time (topping Paranormal Activity 3).
The recent box office drought has surely left audiences — both fans and otherwise — starved for a “water cooler” movie to flock to and enjoy with an audience.
With an 89 percent score and 7.3 average rating after 76 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, critical reception is strong — especially for the horror genre.
Clowns.
CONS:
The R-rating could limit sales among younger audiences that typically turn out for horror flicks.
Although limited search strings have been employed, the asterisk to this film’s social media tracking is notable given the difficulty of searching for the film’s common word title.
Clowns…
Meanhwhile,
Bill Skarsgard hopes new Pennywise from ‘It’ will traumatize kids
Bill Skarsgard has stepped into some pretty big clown shoes.
Don’t worry, he’s aware of that.
Best known for his work in the Netflix series Hemlock Grove and a part in this summer’s Atomic Blonde, Skarsgard is the new Pennywise in director Andy Muschietti’s adaptation of Stephen King’s It.
In the classic 1986 novel, King followed seven children, who dubbed themselves the Losers Club, as they went up against a shapeshifting clown, whose history of murder and violence dates back for centuries.
“Hopefully I will traumatize a whole new generation of kids,” Skarsgard jokes in an interview with the Sun.
The Loser outcasts are played by Jaeden Lieberher (Midnight Special), who stars as Bill Denbrough, the stutterer who is searching for his little brother, Georgie, who vanished after coming into contact with Pennywise; Finn Wolfhard’s wisecracking Richie Tozier; Chosen Jacobs’ Mike Hanlon; Sophia Lillis, whose Beverly Marsh is the object of all the boys’ affection; Wyatt Oleff’s Stan Uris; Jeremy Ray Taylor’s pudgy Ben Hanscom; and Jack Dylan Grazer’s hypochondriac Eddie Kaspbrak.
Rocky Horror Picture show star Tim Curry famously played Pennywise in a 1990 TV miniseries…
‘It’ Movie Sequel Plans Move Forward at New Line
The studio is just starting to firm up plans for a second film based on Stephen King’s massive novel.
Even as New Line prepares for the Friday opening of its much anticipated adaptation of Stephen King’s It, the company is moving toward a second movie based on the massive horror novel.
Gary Dauberman, one of the screenwriters on the new It, has quietly closed a deal to pen the screenplay for its sequel, and Andy Muschietti, who directed the new film, is waiting in the wings to return, although no deal is in place.
Producers Barbara Muschietti, Roy Lee, Dan Lin, Seth Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg are expected to return as well.
A sequel, or, as its being called, a Chapter Two, was almost never in doubt even if the involvement of some of the creative players was.
King’s opus tells of a group of friends who band together to defeat their small town’s demon — first as kids and then a second time as adults. While the book toggles between the young and older characters, New Line structured its adaptation so that the first movie focuses on the kids and is set in the past, with the second movie to be set in the present and will focus on the adults. (In the book, the past was the 1950s; the movie’s past is the 1980s.)
The new version of It has been building massive awareness ever since the first trailer exploded to 197 million views across all platforms in its first 24 hours. When the movie appeared on box-office tracking sites in mid-August, it looked as if it was heading for a debut of more than $50 million. Now some box-office observers predict it may open to more than $60 million, an excellent number for a movie that has a budget in the mid-$30 millions. Reviews have been generally strong, with the movie currently sitting at a 90 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes…