It set the record for the most-watched trailer online in a single day, so clearly there’s an interest for scary clown movies (much to the dismay of actual clowns). That might not be the only record It breaks, either: “most people simultaneously peeing their pants in terror over a laugh” is still in play, as is the biggest-ever opening for a movie released in September.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Andrés Muschietti’s horror movie “could clear $50 million or more in its first weekend… Some even believe it could approach $60 million.” That would top the current record-holder (not adjusted for inflation), Hotel Transylvania 2, which scored $48.4 million in 2015. The rest of the top-five is equally unimpressive — Hotel Transylvania, Insidious Chapter 2, Sweet Home Alabama, and Sully — so It should float to the top. The R-rating might dent the total, but only slightly: horror fans are starved for something better than Annabelle: Creation, and non-horror fans should come in droves, too, considering It‘s only competition is, um, 9/11.
In case you were wondering, here are the highest openings for every month.
January: American Sniper ($89.2 million)
February: Deadpool ($132.4 million)
March: Beauty and the Beast ($174.7 million)
April: Furious 7 ($147.1 million)
May: The Avengers ($207.4 million)
June: Jurassic World ($208.8 million)
July: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($169.1 million)
August: Suicide Squad ($133.6 million)
September: Hotel Transylvania 2 ($48.4 million)
October: Gravity ($55.7 million)
November: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ($158 million)
December: Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($247.9 million)
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)
