“It” set for massive Box Office opening
After a sluggish summer box office, Warner Bros. and New Line's adaptation of the Stephen King novel “It” is expected to scare audiences back into theatres with a record-breaking opening. A $65 million opening is expected from 4,000 locations. Since early tracking pegged the movie at a $50 million opening in mid-August, the expected sum has only floated higher — some current tracking indicates an opening as high as $75 million. All signs point to a major win for the R-rated horror pic, which was made for about an estimated $35 million.
An opening of that magnitude is mostly unprecedented. The record for largest September opening set by “Hotel Transylvania 2” in 2015 was $48.5 million; the biggest opening weekend banked by a horror or supernatural film — “Paranormal Activity 3” earned $52.6 million in 2011. Although “Deadpool” set the a bar supremely high for an R-rated movie in 2016 with a massive $132.4 million opening, but even with $65 million, “It” would earn its place in the top 10. Fandango reported that fans are already paying up — “It” is the top horror film pre-seller in history.
The movie comes courtesy of Argentine director Andy Muschietti, who is known for the 2013 horror film “Mama”. Bill Skarsgard stars as Pennywise the Clown, which terrorises young children in Derry, Maine. The rest of the cast includes youngsters Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer, Nicholas Hamilton, and Jackson Robert Scott in supporting roles.
While Pennywise's presence looms large, this weekend also offers counterprogramming in the form of Open Road's “Home Again”. The romantic comedy, which carries a price tag of about $15 million, is expected to make about $10 million. Reese Witherspoon stars as a single mother whose life grows more complicated when three young men — played by Nat Wolff, Jon Rudnitsky, and Pico Alexander — move in. Hallie Meyers-Shyer directed the feature from her own script, while her mother, Nancy Meyers, served as a producer.
Source: Variety
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