It: Chapter Two easily tops the weekend box office and scores the second-best September opening behind its predecessor two years ago.
Chapter Two grossed $91 million over the weekend and while down about 26% from the record-breaking opening of It ($123 million) this is still an opening word celebrating. It: Chapter Two and its predecessor now rank as the first and second-largest openings for both a horror film as well as the first and second-largest September openings of all-time. Horror films opening to these numbers is a bit of anomaly that began with It in 2017 and curried on with the $75 million opening of Halloween last year and now the $91 million opening of It: Chapter Two.
Despite the impressive opening, some be wondering why did it fall short of the opening of the first film? The big issue could be the film’s length which clocks in at nearly three hours (2 hours & 49 minutes). That’s about 34 minutes longer than the first film and it’s a length that is a bit unheard of in the horror genre. Another caveat could be the reviews. It: Chapter Two is still fresh but it came in at 64% fresh compared to the 86% of the first film. Another tidbit that box office experts have pointed out is that the film wasn’t able to attract a female audience similar to the first film and most horror films nowadays, which tend to be majority female, even if by a small margin. Chapter Two drew an audience that was 47% female compared to the first film’s 51%. In terms of age, the sequel’s audience leaned slightly older than the first film with 67% of the opening weekend crowd aged 25 or older compared to 65% for the first film.
The film did earn a “B+” CinemaScore, the same score as the first film which is solid for horror but the IMDB rating paints a different picture. Chapter Two has a 7.2/10 after its opening weekend while the first film had an 8.2/10 after its opening weekend. It could indicate that the film didn’t have the same wow factor as its predecessor and could indicate a sizeable drop in the weeks ahead. The film carries an $80 million budget, up from the $35 million of the first film due to higher profile adult talent like James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain & Bill Hader. Chapter Two is going to go down a winner no matter how you spin it, even if it won’t go the heights of the first film. Internationally, the film opened in 75 markets and delivered $94 million, debuting with the largest horror openings ever in 16 markets including Russia, Netherlands, Norway, Finland, and Argentina.
The rest of the top five are leftovers from the summer. The gap between It: Chapter Two and the second-place film, Angel Has Fallen, is about $85 million which shows you how huge Chapter Two was and everything else was left fighting for scraps. Angel Has Fallen grossed $5.9 million, down 49.2% from last weekend. The film has grossed $53.4 million on a $40 million budget and we’re still waiting for international grosses to come in to see if it will have the same overseas success as its predecessors.
Good Boys drops to third with $5.4 million, down 42.4%. The film is a true sleeper hit of the late summer offerings and has grossed an impressive $66.9 million to date and that’s all on a $20 million budget.
The Lion King stays in the top five for its 8th week of release and grosses $4.3 million. The film dropped 37.5% and at this point what it’s earning is extra pocket change as the film has already grossed a staggering $529.3 million at the domestic box office. The film also added $13.4 million internationally this weekend for an overseas gross totaling $1.07 billion and a global tally just shy of $1.6 billion as the film now ranks seventh all-time both globally and internationally.
Rounding out the top five is Hobbs & Shaw with $3.8 million, down 41.1% from the previous weekend. The film has grossed $164.3 million at the domestic box office and continue to prove its international appeal with a worldwide take of $721 million.
Check out the full top ten results below:
| Film | Total | % Change | Gross to Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onward | $10,601,952 | -72.9% | $60.3 |
| Bloodshot | $9,176,695 | NEW | $9.17 |
| I Still Believe | $9,103,614 | NEW | $9.10 |
| The Invisible Man | $5,890,805 | -61.1% | $64.3 |
| The Hunt | $5,304,455 | NEW | $5.3 |
| Sonic the Hedgehog | $2,522,584 | -67.3% | $145.7 |
| The Way Back | $2,356,115 | -71.2% | $13.3 |
| The Call of the Wild | $2,226,720 | -67.1% | $62 |
| Emma. | $1,295,215 | -73% | $9.9 |
| Bad Boys for Life | $1,102,208 | -63.5% | $204.2 |
