It edging out American Made and Kingsman 2 at the box office
It is rising up from the sewers and looking to reclaim the box office crown. In its fourth weekend in theaters, Warner Bros. and New Line’s horror hit is on track to gross an estimated $17.3 million in the U.S. and Canada, narrowly topping the new Tom Cruise caper American Made and last week’s winner, Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Meanwhile Sony’s Flatliners reboot is showing few signs of life.
Based on Stephen King’s 1986 novel and directed by Andy Muschietti, It powered a record-breaking September at the domestic box office, where it has grossed $291.2 million. The film has added $262 million in foreign markets, pushing its worldwide total well past the half-billion-dollar mark, to $553.2 million.
Given It‘s critical and commercial success, it’s no surprise that a sequel was recently slated to hit theaters in 2019.
On It‘s tail, however, are Universal’s American Made with an estimated $17.016 million and Fox’s Kingsman: The Golden Circle with an estimated $17 million. (Final weekend grosses will be reported Monday.)
The former film, directed by Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow) and starring Cruise as TWA pilot turned drug runner and arms smuggler Barry Seal, has garnered positive reviews and received a decent B-plus CinemaScore from audiences. However, it also marks the lowest opening for a Cruise film since 2012’s Jack Reacher ($15.2 million).
Cruise remains a draw overseas, where American Made has been rolling out over the past several weeks to the tune of $64.7 million.
A hair’s breadth behind American Made, director Matthew Vaughn’s Kingsman sequel is on pace to decline 56% in its second weekend, bringing its domestic total to $66.7 million. For the sake of comparison, the original Kingsman declined 49% in its sophomore frame, putting its total at $68 million.
The weekend’s other new major release, Flatliners, will gross an estimated $6.7 million, taking fifth place and falling short of industry projections, which had it closer to $10 million. A remake of Joel Schumacher’s 1990 thriller about a group of medical students who conduct dangerous near-death experiments, the film took a drubbing from critics (it currently has a 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes) and received a tepid B-minus CinemaScore from moviegoers.
The new film is directed by Niels Arden Oplev, who previously helmed the Swedish version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and stars Ellen Page, Diego Luna, and Nina Dobrev.
Filling out the top five is Warner Bros’. The Lego Ninjago Movie, in fourth place with $12 million. After 10 days in North American theaters, the animated film has taken in $35.6 million, lagging well behind the pace of predecessors The Lego Movie and The Lego Batman Movie.
Further down the list, Fox Searchlight’s Oscar hopeful Battle of the Sexes expanded from 21 theaters to 1,213 in its second weekend and is on pace to gross an estimated $3.4 million, while the Taye Diggs-led psychological thriller Til Death Do Us Part (distributed by Novus Content) is poised to crack the top 10 with a $1.5 million bow. Both figures are below industry projections.
According to ComScore, overall box office is down 4.7 percent year-to-date. Check out the Sept. 29-Oct. 1 figures below.
1. It — $17.3 million
2. American Made — $17.016 million
3. Kingsman: The Golden Circle — $17 million
4. The Lego Ninjago Movie — $12 million
5. Flatliners — $6.7 million
6. Battle of the Sexes — $3.4 million
7. American Assassin — $3.3 million
8. Home Again — $1.8 million
9. Til Death Do Us Part — $1.5 million
10. mother! — $1.46 million