As evidenced by the box office numbers for IT, the expert marketing campaign of “clowns are horrifying” and “groups of 80's kids are awesome” was enough to drive audiences into theaters in droves. In fact, fans have turned out in such mass that the movie was able to surpass a massive milestone: As of now, IT is officially the highest grossing horror movie ever at the domestic box office.
Warner Bros. has announced their victory over the recent titleholder – THE EXORCIST – which finished at $232 million (unadjusted for inflation), while IT has added $3.4 million to its total as of Thursday to amass $236 million. By the weekend it will have rocketed beyond that total, and will even beat EXORCIST’s global haul of $441 million (IT currently stands at $404 million globally).
However, it is worth noting that, per Deadline, WB is taking the record into account from a “genre standpoint” while not considering other “horror hybrids” like SIXTH SENSE ($293 million), JAWS ($260 million) and I AM LEGEND ($256 million). SIXTH is considered drama-suspense, JAWS an action-suspense and LEGEND a sci-fi-fantasy-zombie flick. Of course, even those records are on-target for IT, as it’s predicted to make another $30+ million this weekend, putting it above JAWS and LEGEND, and by next weekend it will have passed, or be very close to passing, SENSE. In the end, IT is well-poised to pass $300 million by early October.
A lot of factors have played a role in IT being such a massive hit. Among them, the movie is based on what may be Stephen King’s most celebrated work; STRANGER THINGS and 80’s nostalgia made the setting perfect for mainstream audiences and; clowns are more terrifying now than ever before, and the universal fear was ripe for terrorizing audiences. On top of that, it goes without saying that Andres Muschietti just made a great movie. It may not have had everything fans wanted, but the characters and casting were great, the heart and humor were in-tact and it was scary and violent as all hell. We couldn’t have asked for a better modern adaptation, and now it's reaping the rewards.
IT is in theaters now, and if you haven't seen it yet then clearly you are behind the curve.