(Bloomberg) -- “It: Chapter Two” opened as top film in U.S. theaters, delivering a strong September debut even while coming in below estimates.
The Warner Bros. horror sequel, opening two years after the first “It” movie brought Pennywise the clown into the limelight, took in $91.1 million in the U.S. and Canada, researcher Comscore Inc. said Monday. Based on a Stephen King Novel, it was projected to take in $102 million to $105 million.
Key Insights
- The performance of “It” was enough to deliver an up weekend for theaters, and gives them a chance to salvage what has been a hit-or-miss year. Before the weekend, the box office was down 6.7% in 2019.
- The first “It” had a $123.4 million domestic opening weekend and went on to generate $327.5 million -- and more than $700 million globally -- as the highest-grossing R-rated horror movie of all time.
- The producers tapped well-known stars James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain and Bill Hader to help expand the film's reach, compared with other movies in the horror genre. It also had outsized buzz on social media.
- With the industry heading into the home stretch of 2019, movies like Walt Disney Co.'s animated “Frozen 2” could help sales recover -- though it may be tough to reach last year's total. 2018 was a record year for the domestic box office, which brought in $11.9 billion.
Get More
- See the weekend release schedule.
- See Box Office Pro's long-range forecast.
To contact the reporter on this story: Hailey Waller in New York at hwaller@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Ludden at jludden@bloomberg.net, Nick Turner
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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