IT

It is the adrenaline rush the box office sorely needed after a summer that could accurately be described as “pretty bad” — the new take on Stephen King’s doorstop of a novel is the best horror opening ever, the highest single-day box office for an R-rated movie, the lowest-budgeted movie to gross over $100 million in its opening weekend, and now it’s the biggest opening for a September movie in history.

"You'll Float too!"

It’s now been two weekends since Pennywise the Dancing Clown was unleashed upon unsuspecting audiences, and Hollywood may never be the same. Seriously. The kind of box office numbers we’re seeing right now will inspire, uh, major changes in how Hollywood tries to jump on specific trends. And while two new movies made a sort of solid showing for themselves over the weekend, the fact is this: it’s Pennywise’s world. We’re just living in it. Here’s the box office projections as of Sunday afternoon:

Pennywise himself showed off his horrifying grin on ‘Conan.’ Prepare to be scared again!

The Alamo Drafthouse is a fun, chill venue full of burgers and boozy milkshakes that provides one of the most unique moviegoing experiences out there, but they’re very strict about two things: That talking and texting during the movie nonsense? Don’t do it. Just take it from Georgie, the ridiculously cherubic child from this fall’s horror sensation It.

Although Warner Bros. and New Line have yet to formally greenlight IT: Chapter Two, director Andy Muschietti and his producing partner (and sister) Barbara are already developing the follow-up to one of this year’s biggest hits. With a record-breaking opening weekend and screenwriter Gary Dauberman reportedly on board for the sequel, it shouldn’t be long before WB gives the go-ahead. Until then, Muschietti is spilling the beans on his plans for Chapter Two and how the young cast factors into the story, which is set 27 years after the first film.

As we head deeper into September, two things have become pretty clear about 2017 box office numbers: one, Hollywood desperately needs to bounce back a little bit from the doldrums of August, and two, whoever decided to hedge their studio’s bets with a September release date for a movie about a killer clown is looking like a [profanity] genius right about now. We’ll get to all of that in a moment, but first, here are the box office numbers as of Sunday afternoon:

The latest adaptation of IT hits theaters this weekend, bringing Stephen King’s horror epic back to frightening (and weirdly fun) life. But director Andy Muschietti and screenwriter Gary Dauberman have only given audiences half of the story, which takes place in the ’80s and follows a group of misfit tweens — self-described as the Losers Club — as they confront the evil entity that’s been killing kids in their town. The second half follows the Losers almost 30 years later, when they return home to destroy that evil once and for all. Before casting begins for the sequel, which won’t arrive until 2019, we came up with some ideas of our own.

Think the classic novel and miniseries is about a scary clown? A new video essay reveals the true meaning of Stephen King’s horror masterpiece.

Deadpool might need to watch his back. IT, the latest adaptation of Stephen King’s horror epic, just broke one of the R-rated box office champ’s records — and is primed to break a couple more before the end of the weekend. It’s doubtful that Pennywise will come close to overtaking the Merc With a Mouth’s massive box office haul, but it’s quite a win for the new horror film from Andy Muschietti, which already has a sequel in the works for 2019.