Killer clowns may be frightening in real life, but clearly audiences can't get enough of a particular one causing chaos on the big screen. Since opening earlier this month, IT has been a critical and commercial powerhouse. September is usually a quieter period with theatrical releases, so the fact that the cinematic adaptation of Stephen King's 1986 novel has been so well received is a welcome change of pace. IT has already been making historic money, but now Pennywise's reign of terror has crossed another important milestone by surpassing $500 million worldwide.
Less than three weeks after it started screening to the public, Warner Bros has announced that IT has officially crossed the halfway point to $1 billion across the globe. This officially makes IT the highest-grossing horror movie ever, knocking The Exorcist out of the #1 spot after 44 years. The movie has already a number of records during its theatrical run, including having the biggest opening weekend of any horror movie in 30 territories, and in 17 of those territories (so far), it's become the top-grossing horror movie of all time. Considering that IT still hasn't opened yet in countries like Germany, Italy and Japan, there's still time for the movie to hit a few more milestones before 2017 is over.
Like the original IT novel (albeit with the story being set in the 1980s rather than the 1950s), the theatrical adaptation follows The Losers Club, group of outcast children, combating the evil shapeshifting entity that lurks in their town and often takes the guise of Pennywise the Dancing Clown. The main cast includes Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise, Jaeden Lieberher as Bill Denbrough, Jeremy Ray Taylor as Ben Hanscom, Finn Wolfhard as Richie Tozier, Sophia Lillis as Beverly Marsh, Wyatt Oleff as Stan Uris, Chosen Jacobs as Mike Hanlon and Jack Dylan Grazer as Eddie Kaspbrak.
IT's home release date hasn't been announced yet, but director Andy Muschietti and producer Barbara Muschietti announced two weeks ago that there will be a director's cut, which will feature at least 15 minutes of extra footage. And for those of you who left IT wanting more, you only have to wait another two years to see the other half of the story be presented in IT 2, which will follow the now-adult members of The Losers Club returning to Derry, Maine to defeat It once and for all.
Whether you've already seen IT or still haven't had the opportunity to watch it yet, be sure to read our review of the movie. You can also look forward to IT 2 hitting theaters on September 9, 2019. As for what else is being released for the remainder of this year and into next year, browse through our 2017 and 2018 movie premiere guides.
