August has been a truly, historically terrible month at the box office and it needs a serious shot in the arm. That shot in the arm is coming this weekend in the form ofIT, which is easily one of the most highly-anticipated movies of the fall movie season. Buzz for theStephen King adaptationhas been through the roof ever since the first teaser trailer dropped in March. To further showcase just how much people are looking forward toIT, Fandango has reported record-breaking numbers for pre-sale tickets.
As reported byDread Central,ITis now the number one horror movie ever in the history of Fandango in terms of presales, which is no small feat. The movie overtook 2011’sParanormal Activity 3.ITis also now the number one September pre-sale movie on Fandango, beating out Clint Eastwood’sSullyfrom last year. Here’s what Fandango Managing Editor Erik Davis had to say about the massive sales numbers forIT.
“The advance ticket sales have been sensational. ‘It’ has been building tremendous momentum, fueled by nostalgia for the iconic Stephen King story, some spine-chilling trailers, and terrific advance buzz. With the promise of a film that’s scary, funny, and driven by one of horror’s most memorable villains inPennywise the Clown,Itis destined to kick off the fall movie season in a major way and will easily lead this weekend’s box office.”
Audiences are clamoring for a good movie right now andITlooks to be that movie. The movie currently has an 89 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is pretty incredible for a mainstream horror movie. As it stands, director Andres Muschietti’sITlooks like it is going to bring in north of $60 million this weekend, with some estimates claiming the movie could break $70 million. That will easily make it thebiggest September opening at the box officeever and will be a huge win for the studio.
Fandango also released some stats related to the release ofIT, which reveal how anticipated the arrival of Pennywise the clown is. 96 percent of people have been looking forward to the fall’s releases, withITnear the top of that list. 91 percent of those going this weekend are fans of Stephen King. 89 percent were “intrigued” by the trailer. 85 percent of people are excited to seeStranger Thingsstar Finn Wolfhard in his big-screen movie debut. 73 percent saw the 1990 TV mini-series withTim Curry as Pennywise, which is now one of the top 20 rentals on FandangoNOW. 68 percent say the lack of images of the new Pennywise increased their interest. Perhaps one of the most interesting stats is that only 57 percent of those going to seeITidentify themselves as true horror fans.
Considering that a movie like this usually can’t cross over into the mainstream, it is amazing that so many non horror fans are game forIT. That’s good news for those who like this movie, as the studio has plans to fast track theIT sequel, which will tell the second half of Stephen King’s iconic novel.ITis definitely going to be the first huge movie of the fall seasons and looks like it will be the movie we all hoped it would be.
