‘It’, terrorising box-office rivals, sets horror-flick 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