It – the new Warner Brothers adaptation of Stephen King’s classic, and very scary, novel is expected to break all box office records for a horror movie. It’s now being projected to end its opening weekend at US$117.2 million. That’s a huge number regardless, even more so when considering that It is an R-rated horror movie.
For context: before It, the top opening weekend for an R-rated movie belonged to Paranormal Activity 3, which earned US$52.6 million back in 2011. The next best made US$41 million.
To put it another way, this is an unprecedented amount for a horror movie. Even many movies regardless of the genre would be jealous of numbers like these.
Perhaps these numbers have been bolstered by a truly scary viral marketing campaign that saw silent clowns standing/sitting menacingly around urban areas (while holding a red balloon). People are still on the fence about whether or not it even is a viral campaign and not some terrifying prank.
So how has this happened?
Stephen King’s work is very popular, and It has enjoyed enormous popularity since its debut trailer went online in March. There was also a highly clichéd TV-adaptation, with aired back in the 1990s. SO there’s probably a bit of nostalgia going on here too.
Regardless, It is a truly terrifying movie. See it if you dare.
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