When It, which partially adapted Stephen King's iconic 1986 novel, was released in September 2017, it wasn't simply a smash hit, it became the most commercially successful R-rated horror film of all time. It eventually earned more than $700 million worldwide, coming off a spectacular $123 million opening weekend gross.
But with half the book not making it into the big screen story, audiences left immediately anticipating a sequel. This past weekend, all of the un-adapted sections featuring the main characters as adults opened as It: Chapter 2, almost exactly two years after the first movie. While it couldn't top the original's opening weekend gross, it still brought in an extremely hefty—especially for an R-rated film—$92 million. That makes it the second-highest opening weekend for an R-rated horror, fittingly following its predecessor.
Although many prognosticators may conclude that the lesser opening take points to It: Chapter 2 failing on some level, the box office performance of the film, and indeed its very existence, is encouraging for bold, big screen storytelling on a number of fronts.
It's important to note here that one factor in the sequel not making as much as the first It is the film's almost three-hour running time, which results in fewer screenings per day.
In light of that, the opening weekend gross is conclusive proof, if any was still needed, that blockbusters don't need to be for everybody. Four quadrant cinema has dominated the blockbuster world since the mid-'90s, when the biggest movies all started to become...nicer.
Even more so than the first film, It: Chapter 2 is very much not a “nice” movie. With the success of the 2017 film giving wind to their sails, director Andy Muschietti and screenwriter Gary Dauberman appear emboldened to embrace the horror like never before, and there's some pretty unforgettable horror imagery driving it.
They've also clearly got more money to work with. The horror set-pieces, of which there are far more than in It, are presented on a scale that is almost unprecedented in R-rated horror. This is big horror, and the audience clearly has an equally large appetite for it.
Films aimed squarely at grown-ups have ceded much ground to television over the last few decades, and the massive interest in It and its sequel has helped movies reclaim some of that ground.
Additionally, the success of It lead to a mini-resurgence in enthusiasm for cinematic adaptations of King's works. This year saw the release of a new adaptation of Pet Sematary, and James Wan is currently prepping a film version of The Tommyknockers. King is one of the most adapted authors in history, but the last few years saw something of a waning in enthusiasm for such adaptations. But no more.
In addition to being one of the most popular authors of all time, King has long been an advocate for storytelling itself. He has always showed admirable pragmatism for the finished works being allowed to exist as separate entities to the books that inspired them (The Shining stands as a notable exception). So more King on the big screen is good for storytelling overall, because the films exist less for brand management reasons, and more due to a hunger for captivating stories being told on a macro scale.
This past weekend also saw several notable premieres over the first few days of the Toronto International Film Festival, which traditionally marks the beginning of awards season. Taika Waititi's potentially divisive Hitler comedy Jojo Rabbit appears to be charming critics to a certain degree, no doubt allaying some of the fears that the film would prove too controversial to be embraced by the awards crowd.
Things appear less rosy for the star-studded adaptation of Donna Tartt's smash hit novel The Goldfinch, which is receiving mostly negative notices from critics who attended its initial screenings.
Then there's A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood, the Tom Hanks-starring biopic about beloved children's television host Fred Rogers. Although it will no doubt figure prominently come awards time, some initial reactions have pointed to the film simply being a little too....nice.