‘It’ Will See a Monster Puts an End to Box Office Drought
Variety.com: The two-month domestic box office drought has ended emphatically with New Line’s horror-thriller “It” heading for a massive opening weekend of an estimated $103 million at 4,103 North American sites.
It’s the biggest domestic launch since “Spider-Man: Homecoming” opened with $117 million on July 7-9 and the fifth best launch weekend of 2017 after “Beauty and the Beast,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and “Wonder Woman.”
Based on the 1986 Stephen King horror novel, “It” is attracting moviegoers in numbers far above earlier forecasts, which were in the $65 million to $75 million range. The R-rated title, which focuses on a group of adolescent friends battling a small town’s demon, is the 47th movie to open above $100 million domestically.
“It” wound up with $51 million on Friday, which included a stellar $13.5 million from Thursday night previews — the third-largest preview number for 2017, trailing only Disney’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” and “Beauty and the Beast.”
