'It' Records Monstrous Opening Weekend

September 11, 2017

'It' is here and it is a hit!

The 2017 feature film adaptation of Stephen King’s 1986 horror novel 'It', shattered records over the weekend earning $117.2 million from 4,103 locations according to studio estimates on Sunday.

The haul for "It" could not have come at a better time for Hollywood, as the film industry is coming off its worst summer at the box office in 20 years, according to CNN. Prior to "It (2017)", "Paranormal Activity 3" had the biggest horror movie opening with $56.6 million in 2011 and the highest September debut was "Hotel Transylvania 2" which garnered $48.5 million its opening weekend in 2015.

The novel was previously adapted into a 1990 miniseries featuring an ensemble cast, starring Richard Thomas, John Ritter, Annette O'Toole, Harry Anderson, Dennis Christopher, Tim Reid and Richard Masur as the seven members of the Losers Club, and Tim Curry as Pennywise. The 2017 movie, from Argentine director Andy Muschietti, is intended to be the first installment in a planned duology.

The film tells the story of outcasted seven children in Derry, Maine, in the summer of 1989, who are terrorized by the eponymous being, only to face their own personal demons in the process. Jaeden Lieberher and Bill Skarsgård star as Bill Denbrough and Pennywise the Dancing Clown, respectively, with Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer, Nicholas Hamilton, and Jackson Robert Scott in supporting roles.

It (titled onscreen as It: Chapter One) received positive reviews, with critics praising the acting, direction and faithfulness to the novel, and many calling it one of the best King adaptations.

Horror classic 'It' is  yet to open in Sri Lankan cinemas to give you early Halloween chills!