‘It’, terrorising box-office rivals, sets horrorflick record
LOS ANGELES: Stephen King wrote ‘It’. Warner Bros. and New Line made ‘It’. And audiences seem to love ‘It’.
The new freaky-scary film by that title broke records over the weekend as the largest September opening and largest opening for an R-rated horror film in North American theatres, industry websites reported Sunday.
‘It’, starring Bill Skarsgard as a creepy clown who terrorises children in a sleepy Maine town, pulled in an estimated US$117 million for the threeday weekend, website Exhibitor Relations reported. The movie, from Argentine director Andy Muschietti, comes amid one of the slowest cinematic summers in years -- and likely would have done better but for the impact of Hurricane Irma on Florida moviegoers.
Coming in second -- but left far back in the dust by ‘It’ -- was another new release, ‘Home Again’ from Open Road Films, with a take of just US$9 million. The romantic comedy has Reese Witherspoon unexpectedly finding herself living with three young men after a separation from her husband.
In third was a movie that had clung to a box-office lead for three straight weeks, ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’ from Lionsgate, which netted US$4.9 million. The action comedy stars Ryan Reynolds as a bodyguard hired to protect a notorious hitman played by Samuel L. Jackson.
Next was another Warner Bros. horror film, ‘Annabelle: Creation’, which took in US$4 million. It is part of the popular ‘Conjuring’ series of movies.
And in fifth was ‘Wind River’ from the Weinstein Co., at US$3.2 million. It stars Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen as federal agents trying to solve a murder on an Indian reservation. Rounding out the top 10 were: ‘Leap!’ (US$2.5 million)
‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ (US$2 million)
‘Dunkirk’ (US$2 million) ‘Logan Lucky’ (US$1.8 million) ‘The Emoji Movie’ (US$1 million) — AFP