September usually isn't considered to be a great month for movies, but that doesn't mean that those weeks are free of cinematic hits. For example, IT is finally being released this Friday, and the early reviews all point towards it being an excellent adaptation of Stephen King's 1986 novel. That critical buzz will no doubt help draw more people to see IT in theaters, and if early predictions are correct, the movie is expected to be a commercial powerhouse by drawing in approximately $60 million domestically this weekend.
If IT is able to hit that $60 million mark after its first three days in theaters, it would officially earn the honor of being the biggest September opening of all time, surpassing Hotel Transylvania 2's haul of $48 million. The movie has already been doing extremely well in pre-sales, as Fandango reports that IT has become the top horror movie pre-seller on the website (and the biggest in size since Spider-Man: Homecoming), although the exact number of tickets that have been sold so far wasn't revealed. Fandango also polled 1,000 ticket buyers about IT, and some interesting statistics included that 96% were interested in the movie because it was a welcome change from the summer season fare, while 85% are excited to see Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard made his theatrical debut. It's also interesting that of those polled about IT, 57% classified themselves as "true horror fans," so clearly this movie is intriguing a good chunk of people who don't necessarily look for scares first in their theatrical offerings.
As far as competition goes, IT doesn't really have any this weekend. Smaller movies like Home Again are also being released, but IT is unquestionably the one that most moviegoers will flock to. It also helps that IT comes after the 2017 summer movie season delivered smaller releases in its final weeks. So even though movies like The Hitman's Bodyguard and Annabelle: Creation are still performing well, IT looks like it will dominate the box office not just its opening weekend, but also potentially next weekend, depending on how American Assassin and mother! perform.
Like the original Stephen King novel and the 1990 miniseries, IT will follow a group of outcast children who face off against a shape-shifting entity who preys on children using their deepest fears, most frequently through the guise of Pennywise the Dancing Clown. Director Andres Muschietti has already confirmed that IT Part 2 is in the works, and it will adapt the other half of the novel when the now-adult members of The Losers' Club return to Derry, Maine to defeat this monster once and for all.
IT slithers into theaters this Friday, September 8, and don't forget to read our review of the horror flick.
