After several consecutive weekends of disappointment, the US box office received a monstrous jolt from “It.”
The critically acclaimed remake had earned an impressive $51.0 million by the close of Friday (Thursday screenings included)
The figure already represents an opening weekend record for September — “It” still has Saturday and Sunday on which to extend that record.
By early Saturday, it will have broken the opening weekend record for R-rated horror films (current record-holder “Paranormal Activity 3” earned $52.6 million).
“It” is expected to close the weekend with over $100-110 million in opening weekend receipts. The figure would rank as the #2 all-time opening for an R-rated film. The $132.4 million record set by “Deadpool” seems unattainable at this point.
“It” did, however, have a bigger opening day than “Deadpool.” Its Friday tally of $51.0 million bests the $47.3 million earned by “Deadpool” and, in fact, ranks as an all-time record.
“It” faced no meaningful competition Friday. “Home Again,” the #2 film, earned just $3.1 million.
“The Hitman’s Bodyguard” took #3 with $1.4 million, while a daily gross of $1.2 million earned “Annabelle: Creation” the #4 position.
“Wind River,” which added just under $1 million to its haul, was the day’s #5 film.
