Following the opening weekend at the cinema for Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Pennywise the clown is no longer dancing at the top of the box office, but IT continues to float above most films in its third week since its initial release.
According to Box Office Mojo, Kingsman: The Golden Circle took the top spot at the weekend box office with a $39 million estimated opening, moving IT to the second slot in the top ten of the weekend box office after raking in an additional $30 million into the sewers of Derry.
Like poor Georgie, moviegoers can't seem to resist the lure of Pennywise, and the strong box office numbers in its third weekend in theaters indicates that many moviegoers are likely heading back to the theater to experience the Stephen King adaptation on the big screen more than once.
The IT movie has now brought in $266.3 million in the US, passing The Exorcist ($232.9 million) to become the highest grossing R-rated horror film and nearing The Sixth Sense's $293 million record for highest grossing horror film of all time if you look at the unadjusted grosses.
That said, keep in mind that these totals do not take into account inflation, so IT still has a long way to go before it achieves the actual profits that The Exorcist made back in 1973–74. That being said, what IT is accomplishing at the box office is still an impressive feat and a big-screen milestone for the horror genre, and it hopefully will forecast years of continued success for R-rated storytelling within the genre.
Pennywise also continued to bring nightmares to life around the globe, raking in $38.3 million outside of the US to bring its international total to $211.7 million and a worldwide sum of $478 million.
Meanwhile, another new R-rated horror film at the box office, Entertainment Studios' Friend Request, brought in $2.4 million in its opening weekend in the US.
We're very excited to see the positive impact that IT's success will have on the future of horror, and we'll be sure to keep Daily Dead readers updated as more box office numbers come in, including next weekend, when the new Flatliners movie is released.
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To catch up on our previous coverage of the new IT movie, including our interviews and review, visit here.
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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