IT

Although Warner Bros. and New Line have yet to formally greenlight IT: Chapter Two, director Andy Muschietti and his producing partner (and sister) Barbara are already developing the follow-up to one of this year’s biggest hits. With a record-breaking opening weekend and screenwriter Gary Dauberman reportedly on board for the sequel, it shouldn’t be long before WB gives the go-ahead. Until then, Muschietti is spilling the beans on his plans for Chapter Two and how the young cast factors into the story, which is set 27 years after the first film.

As we head deeper into September, two things have become pretty clear about 2017 box office numbers: one, Hollywood desperately needs to bounce back a little bit from the doldrums of August, and two, whoever decided to hedge their studio’s bets with a September release date for a movie about a killer clown is looking like a [profanity] genius right about now. We’ll get to all of that in a moment, but first, here are the box office numbers as of Sunday afternoon:

Deadpool might need to watch his back. IT, the latest adaptation of Stephen King’s horror epic, just broke one of the R-rated box office champ’s records — and is primed to break a couple more before the end of the weekend. It’s doubtful that Pennywise will come close to overtaking the Merc With a Mouth’s massive box office haul, but it’s quite a win for the new horror film from Andy Muschietti, which already has a sequel in the works for 2019.

It won’t be hard for this fall to beat the worst summer box office in more than ten years, but it’s gearing up to blow the past few months out of the water. Fall — that is, Thanksgiving, a.k.a. all-the-kids-are-home-from-school-and-looking-for-something-to-do season — is almost upon us, and with it come some of the most exciting blockbusters of the year. And it’s Marvel vs. DC yet again as two superhero movies vie for the top spot.

Before the latest adaptation of Stephen King’s IT even hit theaters, early box office predictions suggested anywhere from a $60 to $70 million opening. By contrast, this year’s other big King adaptation, The Dark Tower, has grossed $47.9 million domestic in the month since its release. While we wait for the initial box office numbers to roll in, New Line is already developing a sequel to IT, but it probably won’t hit theaters until 2019.

Stephen King adaptations are a dime a dozen these days (almost literally; rights to his books are famously cheap), but a good Stephen King adaptation, like a properly cooked steak or a movie where Harrison Ford is actually awake, is exceedingly rare. Of the two adaptations of beloved King novels released this year, the idea that IT might be the superior of the pair seemed laughable a few months ago. IT is better than The Dark Tower in every conceivable way, but beyond the inevitable comparison, it’s just really good. Scary good, even.

The Alamo Drafthouse is holding a clown-only screening of the new Stephen King film. Tthat doesn’t sound scary, right? What’s the worst that could happen?

After a very long search that looked at a wide variety of actors, the upcoming remake of Stephen King’s It has found its new Pennywise the Clown. And, you can keep guessing for a very long time, because we’re pretty sure you’ll never guess who it is.