New Line’sIThas mostly wrapped up its run at the box office now that the movie has made its way to home video, with the Blu-ray/DVD release arriving earlier this week. But that didn’t stopPennywiseand The Losers Club from crossing one last, major milestone before closing up shop. With the most recent numbers tallied up,IThas now officially crossed the $700 million mark at the global box office, making it not only the biggest horror hit of 2017, but of all-time by an increasingly wide margin.
IThas grossed $700.1 million heading into the weekend. It’s not likely to add significantly to that total, but the fact that it’s made as much as it has is truly astonishing. As far as movies released in 2017 go,ITis just outside the top 10, currently at number 11. It’s not going to catchPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, which made $794.9 million for Disney. But considering the massive budget,ITis arguably thebigger hit, since it only cost Warner Bros. and New Line $35 million to make.
IT, fromdirector Andy Muschietti, has also outgrossed several other massive 2017 movies.Justice League($654.4 million),Logan($616.8 million) and, perhaps most surprisingly, considering thatTransformers: Age of Extinctiongrossed more than $1 billion worldwide in 2014,ITalso beatTransformers: The Last Knight($605.4 million). The massive take forITwas bolstered by excellent reviews, with the movie currently holding an 85 percent approval rating from both critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.
This helps prove the somewhat obvious lesson that Hollywood has been forced to learn over and over again; if you make a good movie, people will go see it. Sure, some great movies fail to find the audience they deserve, but the year thatITand othercritically-acclaimed horror moviessuch asGet OutandSplitenjoyed at the box office makes it a pretty good rule of thumb to follow. Case in point, moviesTransformers: The Last KnightandJustice Leaguefailed to win over audiences and critics and they, in turn, disappointed at the box office.
New Line is already moving ahead withIT: Chapter Two, which is scheduled to arrive in theaters on June 04, 2025. Andy Muschietti is also currently working on adirector’s cutofIT, but there’s no word on what the release strategy will be for that. Maybe they’ll do a limited theatrical engagement to try and boost that box office just a little bit more. AsBox Office Mojonotes,ITis the sixth biggest movie domestically of 2017 and the only movies that made more money this year cost an awful lot more to produce. Others are going to do their best to emulateIT’s success, but this really does feel like lightning in a bottle.
