I’m trying to figure out who the biggest loser in the success ofIT, and it has to be Sony, right? They openedThe Dark Towerback in August, it flopped horribly, and pretty much nixed any hope of a sequel or a TV series. ThenITcomes along one month later, makes a ridiculous amount of money by showing that people will happily pay for aStephen Kingadaptation that’s rich and atmospheric, and nowThe Dark Toweris kind of worthless instead of being able to piggyback offIT’s success. Tom Rothman must want to eat his own head right now.
And the pain isn’t going to stop anytime soon (or, if you’re at Warner Bros, the jubilation).Andy Muschietti’s horror film (and yes, it’s a horror film; don’t attempt to reclassify it just because you’re uncomfortable with a horror movie making bank) just crossed $500 million worldwide. It hasn’t even been out for a month, but it’s dominating and shows few signs of slowing down. Additionally, if Warner Bros. is able to get the Blu-ray out before the holidays (which I think is their plan), they’re going to make even more money sinceITis a thrill ride instead of a downer horror movie where you feel sad afterwards (for example, I loveThe Mist, but you will never get me to re-watch that movie).
The question now becomes how high canITclimb? It already holds the #1 spot for highest-grossing horror film of all-time, and domestically, it’s currently the fifth-highest grossing film of 2017. The film has already blown past all expectations, and I’m eager to see how much more it can make. It’s a great achievement for the horror genre, and hopefully it shows other studios that with the right artistic talent behind the camera and a solid premise, an R-rated horror film can be dominant at the box office.
IT 2opens July 08, 2025.
