As we head deeper into September, two things have become pretty clear about 2017 box office numbers: one, Hollywood desperately needs to bounce back a little bit from the doldrums of August, and two, whoever decided to hedge their studio’s bets with a September release date for a movie about a killer clown is looking like a [profanity] genius right about now. We’ll get to all of that in a moment, but first, here are the box office numbers as of Sunday afternoon:
The latest adaptation of IT hits theaters this weekend, bringing Stephen King’s horror epic back to frightening (and weirdly fun) life. But director Andy Muschietti and screenwriter Gary Dauberman have only given audiences half of the story, which takes place in the ’80s and follows a group of misfit tweens — self-described as the Losers Club — as they confront the evil entity that’s been killing kids in their town. The second half follows the Losers almost 30 years later, when they return home to destroy that evil once and for all. Before casting begins for the sequel, which won’t arrive until 2019, we came up with some ideas of our own.
Deadpool might need to watch his back. IT, the latest adaptation of Stephen King’s horror epic, just broke one of the R-rated box office champ’s records — and is primed to break a couple more before the end of the weekend. It’s doubtful that Pennywise will come close to overtaking the Merc With a Mouth’s massive box office haul, but it’s quite a win for the new horror film from Andy Muschietti, which already has a sequel in the works for 2019.
Before the latest adaptation of Stephen King’s IT even hit theaters, early box office predictions suggested anywhere from a $60 to $70 million opening. By contrast, this year’s other big King adaptation, The Dark Tower, has grossed $47.9 million domestic in the month since its release. While we wait for the initial box office numbers to roll in, New Line is already developing a sequel to IT, but it probably won’t hit theaters until 2019.
While Star Wars: The Last Jedi has been dominating the conversation, Rian Johnson’s film wasn’t the only movie featured in next week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly. Their annual Fall Movie Preview includes updates and photos from a handful of upcoming releases, including Stephen King’s It, arguably the most highly anticipated movie of the fall. We’ve already seen Mark Hamill fight people with a lightsaber, but a bunch of kids running around the Northeast in the 1980s fighting a supernatural monster? Why, we haven’t seen that since Stranger Things came out! And that was a whole year ago!
After a somewhat tumultuous development stage, the new adaptation of Stephen King’s classic horror novel It is finally heading to the big screen in September, courtesy of Mama director Andy Muschietti. While we wait for the first trailer (which may be arriving sooner than you think), a new photo of Pennywise the clown has debuted online, giving us another look at the iconic villain in a scene that fans of King’s novel and the original miniseries adaptation will immediately recognize.
Warner Bros. has announced release dates for two of their upcoming adaptations / reboots, adding both films — along with an untitled mystery project — to their 2017 slate. First up is CHiPs, Dax Shepard’s new action-comedy based on the classic ’80s TV series, starring Shepard and Michael Peña in the leading roles. Next is It, the long-developing and slightly-delayed adaptation of Stephen King’s beloved horror novel, which became the subject of some minor controversy following director Cary Fukunaga’s departure.