Andy Muschietti's It, based on author Stephen King's horror novel has become the highest-grossing horror film of all time.
It, a film about a child-eating clown, has earned over $450 million worldwide, surpassing The Exorcist’s $441.3 million globally, Forbes reported on Sunday. It has raked up $236.3 million domestically, leaving behind The Exorcist’s $232.9 million domestic earnings.
With this, the film has beat a 44-year-old record set by The Exorcist.
The New Line and Warner Bros adaptation of Stephen King's novel also shattered box office records during its opening weekend.
"There's something really special about the story itself, the way the movie was made, and the marketing," said Jeff Goldstein, distribution chief at Warner Bros. "The stars aligned on this, and we still have some room to grow for the weekend."
"It" earned a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes of 87% and a B+ CinemaScore. Its gender breakdown is reportedly 51% female and 49% male. About two thirds of the audience has been over 25 years old.
Horror films often have lower budgets than other more CGI-dense blockbusters, so the return on investment has potential to be massive. Goldstein said the genre is one that New Line particularly excels in, and there is potential to see more horror in the future if the right story comes along. "If we were able to find more films in this genre, we'd be thrilled to make them," he said.
The movie comes courtesy of Argentine director Andy Muschietti, who is known for the 2013 horror film "Mama." Bill Skarsgard stars as Pennywise the Clown, which terrorizes young children in Derry, Maine. The rest of the cast includes youngsters Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer, Nicholas Hamilton, and Jackson Robert Scott in supporting roles.
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