The “It” trailer broke records in its first 24 hours online. The creepy-clown horror film is now doing the same in theaters, with a $13.5 million preview opening Thursday night.
That makes it the third-highest preview for the year, only behind “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” ($17 million) and “Beauty and the Beast” ($16.3 million), Variety reports. It’s also the highest gross for a horror movie, a September release, a film based on a Stephen King book, and an R-rated title. Not too shabby.
The film is tracking to have the best opening day for an R-rated title after its official release Friday, with box office receipts expected to total $49.6 million and a three-day total tracking toward $101 million, according to Deadline. It’s a promising projection for the film, considering its $35 million budget.
This news comes after a rough few weeks in the movie business, with late August seeing the worst box office returns in years. “The Dark Tower,” 2017′s other major Stephen King adaptation, collected merely $19.1 million in its opening weekend last month.