It might be a horrifying movie about a clown terrorizing a town, but it is breaking all kinds of box office records. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it is the first September release to ever cross $200 million, “much less approach $300 million.”
On top of the R-rated film’s record earnings, the timing could not be better. Moviegoing hit a 25-year low this summer, and revenue plummeted 14.6 percent to $3.83 billion, writes The Hollywood Reporter.
But with It pulling in $291.2 million domestically, Hollywood and theater owners can breathe a sigh of relief. According to The Hollywood Reporter, domestic revenue between September 1-30 was about $700 million or more, up 19 percent from September 2016 and up 14 percent from the previous record set in 2014.
It didn’t just make big money immediately after the release, but continued to “defy expectations” over the weekend, narrowly edging out American Made and also beating out Kingsman: The Golden Circle.
The Kingsman sequel is the second-biggest September earner in North America, reports The Hollywood Reporter, earning $66.7 million to date.
When the summer revenue plummeted, the gains made earlier in the year were reversed. This meant the 2017 domestic revenue was lagging. The gap is closing, from a 6.5 percent year-over-year deficit to 4.7 percent, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
It is still unclear whether the box office can recover enough to match last year’s $11.4 billion in domestic revenue.
Thor: Ragnarok, Murder on the Orient Express and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, as well as Blade Runner 2049 and Justice League are all set to come out in the coming months.
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