It Chapter Two Opening Day Box Office Not as Strong as Original

It’s finally time to enter the world of Pennywise once more in Andy Muschietti’s much anticipated It Chapter Two, and after its first day the film is getting off to a hot start, though perhaps not as hot as some expected. According to Exhibitor Relations Co. It Chapter Two brought in $37 million on Friday, and as they noted, that’s really good for the month of September. That said, it is below what the first It brought in back in 2017, and if this pattern holds up throughout the weekend, the sequel won’t meet the lofty box office of its predecessor.

As they noted, the first film opened up at the box office with $50 million, which set it up for an opening weekend of $123 million. Eventually, the film would go on to bring in over $700 million worldwide, but while $50 million to $37 million isn’t a giant jump down, it is still a step-down, and so Chapter Two is going to have an uphill climb to meet those sorts of box office numbers.

“IT CHAPTER 2 probed the box office for $37M on Friday, which is scary good for September, but lacking the bite of the original which began its journey with $50M.”

The first It stayed in theaters for 98 days, but as we’ve seen with other 2019 films, they tend to not last in theatres as long as years before, so here’s hoping that It gets a big burst on Saturday and Sunday.

You can find the official description for It Chapter Two below.

“Evil resurfaces in Derry as director Andy Muschietti reunites the Losers Club—young and adult—in a return to where it all began with It Chapter Two.

Because every 27 years evil revisits the town of Derry, Maine, It Chapter Two brings the characters—who’ve long since gone their separate ways—back together as adults, nearly three decades after the events of the first film.

Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain (“Zero Dark Thirty,” “Mama”) stars as Beverly, James McAvoy (“Split,” upcoming “Glass”) as Bill, Bill Hader (HBO’s “Barry,” “The Skeleton Twins”) as Richie, Isaiah Mustafa (TV’s “Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments”) as Mike, Jay Ryan (TV’s “Mary Kills People”) as Ben, James Ransone (HBO’s “The Wire”) as Eddie, and Andy Bean (“Allegiant,” Starz’ “Power”) as Stanley. Reprising their roles as the original members of the Losers Club are Jaeden Martell as Bill, Wyatt Oleff as Stanley, Jack Dylan Grazer as Eddie, Finn Wolfhard as Richie, Sophia Lillis as Beverly, Chosen Jacobs as Mike, and Jeremy Ray Taylor as Ben. Bill Skarsgård returns in the seminal role of Pennywise.

Muschietti directed the film from a screenplay by Gary Dauberman (“IT,” “Annabelle: Creation”) based on the novel IT by Stephen King. Barbara Muschietti, Dan Lin and Roy Lee produced the film, with Marty Ewing, Seth Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg serving as the executive producers.”

It Chapter Two is in theaters now.