‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’ dethrones ‘It’ with $39M debut

The R-rated spy comedy “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” displaced the horror sensation “It” as the No. 1 film in North America, while the second “Lego Movie” spinoff of the year didn’t assemble the expected audience.

The 20th Century Fox release opened with a weekend-leading $39 million debut, according to studio estimates Sunday. But “It” still continues to pull in record crowds. With $30 million over the weekend, “It” is now the highest-grossing horror film of all time, not accounting for inflation, with $266.3 million thus far. (1973’s “The Exorcist” grossed $232.9 million domestically, or more than $1 billion in 2017 dollars.)

Twentieth Century Fox’s “Kingsman” sequel sought to expand on the 2015 original’s $36.2 million opening, and its $414 million worldwide take. Matthew Vaughn’s sequel returned stars Taron Egerton and Colin Firth, while adding Channing Tatum, Halle Berry and others. Made more for audiences than critics, reviews for the gleefully distasteful spy romp were poor, at 51 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Fox could celebrate an uptick the second time around, albeit a small one. “The Golden Circle” also debuted with $61 million overseas, giving it a $100 million global weekend. Vaughn is planning a third “Kingsman” film.

“We’re seven percent bigger than the last one, which opened on a holiday weekend,” said Chris Aronson, distribution chief for Fox. “We grew the franchise. We’re very happy.”

The Stephen King adaptation “It,” from Warner Bros. and New Line, may have slightly eaten into the ticket sales for “Kingsman.” Few believed “It” would still be such a draw in its third week of release; horror films usually drop severely after release. But the film has already established itself as the biggest hit ever in the month of September — a welcome