Weekend Box Office Report: September 15-17, 2017

It floats to #1 again!

For a second weekend, the adaptation of Stephen King's terror tale IT grabbed cinema crowds with an estimated $60 million!

The Losers Club are anything but, with their battle against the sewer-dwelling abomination collecting an incredible ten-day domestic total of $218.7 million. Even with a 51% drop in business, IT's second weekend is still higher than any September (or October) opening in history.

For further perspective, the R-rated horror story has already blown past the domestic totals of this year's big franchise fare like PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MEN TELL NO TALES ($172 million), TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT ($130 million), CARS 3 ($152 million) and WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES ($145 million), and is close to overtaking FATE OF THE FURIOUS ($225 million).

Pennywise has also snatched an additional $152 million from international audiences, bringing IT to a worldwide total of $371 million (on a reported cost of $35 million). It will be interesting to see if crowds return in such force when the adult Losers revisit the town for more clown-fighting in IT: CHAPTER TWO (toss out your casting ideas in the latest JoBlo CAST THIS column).

Opening in second place was the new action movie AMERICAN ASSASSIN with $14.8 million.

The R-rated espionage thriller with Dylan O'Brien (THE MAZE RUNNER) and Michael Keaton cost a reported $33 million.

The first movie based on author Vince Flynn's series about counter-terrorism agent Mitch Rapp didn't blow away critics, who gave it an average of 35% on Rotten Tomatoes. You can check out the JoBlo review HERE.

In third place was the new drama MOTHER! with an opening of $7.5 million.

The psychological horror movie with Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem cost a reported $30 million.

The original story from filmmaker Darren Aronofsky (BLACK SWAN) seemed to both impress and confound critics with a 68% average on Rotten Tomatoes (although the movie received a rare 'F' grade from general audiences on CinemaScore). The JoBlo review is HERE.

The comedy HOME AGAIN was in fourth place with $5.3 million, dropping only 37% from its second-place opening last weekend. The PG-13 Reese Witherspoon romcom has a ten-day domestic total of $17.1 million on a reported $12 million cost.

In fifth place was the R-rated Ryan Reynolds/Samuel L. Jackson action movie THE HITMAN'S BODYGUARD with $3.5 million as it hits $70 million domestic after five weekends in theaters.

ANNABELLE: CREATION was in sixth with $2.6 million as the R-rated horror prequel is just a spooky whisper away from $100 million domestic. The Jeremy Renner/Elizabeth Olson crime-thriller WIND RIVER was in seventh with $2.5 million and the animated LEAP! (the second movie in the Top 10 with an exclamation point!) behind it in eighth with $2.1 million as it drifted over $100 million worldwide.

SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING finally slipped from the number seven spot, but is still hanging around the list in ninth place after 11 weekends in theaters. Marvel's wall-crawler has climbed to $861 million worldwide, just about to pass both GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY movies to become the fifth-biggest global release in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Christopher Nolan's war movie DUNKIRK was at the bottom as it finally fought its way over $500 million worldwide.

Outside the chart, THE EMOJI MOVIE logged off with Steven Soderbergh's LOGAN LUCKY. In limited release, the Ben Stiller drama BRAD'S STATUS started with a decent $25k per-screen average before it expands to 450 screens next week.

Meanwhile, the Tom Cruise fact-based crime-drama AMERICAN MADE (from his EDGE OF TOMORROW director Doug Liman) has flown away with nearly $50 million from international crowds before it lands in the US on September 29, and WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES clambered to $433 million worldwide after a strong China opening.

Next weekend has the social media horror movie FRIEND REQUEST, Matthew Vaughn's spy-action sequel KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE, and blocky martial arts in the animated THE LEGO NINJAGO MOVIE. Limited releases include the Jake Gyllenhaal Boston Marathon bombing drama STRONGER and the tennis biopic BATTLE OF THE SEXES.

What is your favorite movie directed by Darren Aronofsky? VOTE HERE!