It’s Monday, which means the official weekend box office numbers are in and they’re great news for IT (check out my video review here). According to Box Office Mojo, the New Line and Warner Bros. adaptation of Stephen King’s beloved novel has scared up a phenomenal $123.1 million domestically (in the U.S.). That easily blows the original projections of $50 million (which it made on Friday alone) down the storm drain.
Along the way, IT broke multiple box office records:
- Best September opening ever (Topping Hotel Transylvania 2, which previously held the record with just over $48 million).
- Best Fall opening (previously held by Gravity with $55.7 million).
- Best opening for an R-rated horror film (previously Paranormal Activity 3 at $52.5 million).
- Best opening for a horror film of any MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) rating.
The only major box office record that IT couldn’t devour was best opening for an R-rated movie. That title still belongs to Deadpool, which made $132.4 million on its opening weekend.
Coming in second place this weekend was Open Road’s new release Home Again, starring Reese Witherspoon, which made just over $9 million. That’s a difference of over $110 million between first and second place and represents the fifth largest gap between No. 1 and No. 2 at the box office, all-time.
After three consecutive weeks on top, Lionsgate’s The Hitman’s Bodyguard fell to third place this weekend. The Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson action/comedy brought in an extra $4.85 million.
New Line and Warner Bros. also clutched the fourth slot this weekend with Annabelle: Creation, which brought in $4 million dollars. The new domestic cume for the horror spin-off prequel sits at $96.2 million. It won’t be long until the film breaks the $100 million mark and becomes the only August release to do so.
Rounding out the top five this weekend is the Weinstein Company’s Wind River. The last installment in Writer/Director Taylors Sheridan’s unofficial American Frontier trilogy brought in $3.2 million.
In all, this is great news for the box office in general after last week’s historical slump. Apparently people were just saving their money for something they really wanted to see.
What do you all make of this news? Did you expect IT to break $100 million? I know I didn’t. Leave me your comments below. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
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