Stephen King’s ‘It’ earns Rs 2300 crore in one week, may overtake Exorcist as top horror film of all time

LOS ANGELES: Record-setting horror film “It”, an adaptation of novel by Stephen King, continued its winning ways over the weekend, accounting for nearly three times the combined ticket sales of the next two films in North American theaters, industry websites reported on Sunday.

The Warner Bros. film, based on a Stephen King novel and starring Bill Skarsgard as a creepy clown who terrorizes a sleepy Maine town, earned more than $371 million (Rs 2300 crore) at the worldwide box office in one week of release, according to figures published by the Hindustan Times

Trailing far behind were two new releases, “American Assassin” from CBS Films/Lionsgate, at $14.8 million, and “mother!” from Paramount, which registered just $7.5 million in ticket sales despite the star power of Jennifer Lawrence.

The Stephen King adaptation was released on September 8 to record-breaking figures – the film was the highest-grossing horror film and September release of all time. To add to the success story, It also earned rave reviews from critics – it stands at 85% on the review aggregator website, Rotten Tomatoes.

‘It’ was produced on a budget of $35 million – which is roughly Rs 225 crore. A sequel is in early talks, with the story picking up 27 years after the events of the first film, when the murderous clown entity Pennywise returns.

It’s just $14.2 million behind The Exorcist, the top-grossing R-rated horror film ever.

“Assassin” stars Dylan O’Brien as a CIA “black ops” recruit who teams with crusty veteran agent Michael Keaton to try to prevent terrorists from starting a war.

Paramount’s “mother!” earned a dubious distinction: the lowest opening gross for a Jennifer Lawrence film in wide release. A psychological thriller from Darren Aronofsky, it probably suffered from going head-to-head against “It.”

In the film, Lawrence and husband Javier Bardem see their tranquil lives upended when strangers Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer show up at their country home. The movie drew a rare “F” from the ComScore website despite a relatively strong 69 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Aronofsky earned critical acclaim for earlier films including “The Wrestler” and “Black Swan.”

In fourth place was “Home Again” from Open Road Films, with a take of $5.3 million. The romantic comedy stars Reese Witherspoon as a recently separated woman whose life changes when she lets three young men move in.

And in fifth was “The Hitman’s Bodyguard,” at $3.6 million. The action comedy stars Ryan Reynolds as a bodyguard hired to protect a notorious hitman played by Samuel L. Jackson.