‘It: Chapter Two’ Floats Above Competition with a $91M Domestic Haul & $185M Total Globally

Pennywise scared up a fortune again.

It: Chapter Two, based on Stephen King’s book of the same name, had the second-best horror showing of all time; overseas, the R-rated pic launched to $94 million.

“New Line’s R-rated It: Chapter Two opened to $91 million domestically in a needed win for the film industry after a brutal August. And while the sequel didn’t match the record-shattering launch of the first film, it’s still the second-best horror bow of all time and the second-biggest for the month of September behind It, as well as the top bow for an R-rated pic so far this year, not adjusted for inflation.”

“For me, the big headline is that we now have the No. 1 and No. 2 horror openings. We always said this film would get to $85 million or $90 million; we were never going to hit lightning in a bottle again,” says Warners domestic distribution chief Jeff Goldstein. “[Director] Andy [Muschietti], the marketing team and New Line did a great job scaring the stuffing out of people.”