HOLLYWOOD—It was a terrifying and spooky weekend at the box-office as a Stephen King remake of a 1980s classic, “It” took the box-office by storm. “It” shattered so many box-office records I’m not certain where to begin. It claimed the top spot with a stunning $117 million debut. Yes, you heard me, $117 million during its opening weekend. That is the largest debut for any film in the month of September. That is the largest opening ever for a horror flick and it’s the largest opening ever for an R-rated film.
The horror flick now also hold the record for the biggest Thursday night opening for an R-rated flick besting the previous outing of “Deadpool.” “It” managed to earn just over $13.5 million from Thursday evening screenings of the film. I would say it’s safe to argue that “It” will indeed maintain its grip on the box-office at least for the next 2 weeks if not the rest of the month of September. Nabbing second place was the Reese Witherspoon dramedy “Home Again” with a sour $9 million. That might be one of the worst openings for Witherspoon during her career. The only flick that maybe debuted to smaller numbers was that 1996 thriller “Fear” that starred Mark Wahlberg.
Third place was a victory for the action-comedy “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” which earned $4.9 million. The flick starring Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds held control of the box-office for the past 3 weekends, and has since earned over $64 million domestically. “It” was not the only horror flick to scare audiences as the prequel, “Annabelle: Creation” dropped to fourth place with $4 million. The flick is less than a few million from crossing the $100 million mark at the domestic box-office. Rounding out the top five was the drama “Wind River” which added $3 million to its tally.
This weekend sees the return of director Darren Aronofsky with his twisted thriller “mother!” starring Oscar-winners Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem.
