The It remake

[Tommy]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...nald-mcdonald/

If you have coulrophobia — a fear of clowns — anyone in a wig and face paint with a red nose is terrifying. Maybe that’s why Burger King’s Russian operations seem to be a little confused by two very famous clowns. On one end of the spectrum, there’s Ronald McDonald: The mascot of their fast-food competitor is well-intentioned and benevolent (but still a little bit creepy in the way that all clowns are creepy). He looks like the guy in the Waldo shirt, waving to children while delivering merriment and Happy Meals.

On the other side, there’s Pennywise, the villain of Stephen King’s “It,” which was just rebooted in a resounding box office success.

Pretty different, right? They both have red hair and noses, and white faces, but one clearly looks like he’s going to try to cheer up sick kids at a hospital, and the other looks like he’s going to lure those kids to their deaths. But Burger King Russia has filed an official government complaint to the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service demanding the film be pulled from theaters because — inexplicably — they think that Pennywise’s supposed resemblance to Ronald gives McDonald’s an unfair advantage. Yes, they think a clown that terrorizes children in a horror movie is driving customers to their competitor.

The idea that McDonald’s is benefiting from Ronald’s resemblance to Pennywise is, of course, laughably misguided. After a spate of creepy clown sightings around the world last year, McDonald’s cut back on appearances for its mascot, which they told the Associated Press was an attempt to be “thoughtful in respect to Ronald McDonald’s participation in community events” as a result of the “current climate around clown sightings in communities.” And you can bet McDonald’s isn’t happy about this parody trailer for “It” that stars Ronald McDonald instead (the video contains crude language and gore).

“It” opened Sept. 7 in Russia and has grossed $14 million in the country so far, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Meanwhile, Burger King has been making a big push in the Russian market, and has introduced a new cryptocurrency, WhopperCoin, for Russian customers. The “It” complaint was first reported by the Russian publication Vedomosti.

Newsweek reported that Andrey Kashevarov, deputy head of the FAS, told publications, including Russian news agency Ria Novosti, it was not concerned with the content of the film because the “author of the script [and] the director” have their own “artistic perception” of the Pennywise character. One that presumably doesn’t involve adventures with his friends Grimace and Mayor McCheese.

[Iwritecode]

It all makes sense now...

[mae]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottme...ion-worldwide/

Warner Bros./Time Warner Inc. has made it official. Director Andres Muschietti's It, with $272 million domestic and $226m overseas as of today, will top $500 million worldwide, becoming the 176th film to do so. The Stephen King adaptation, penned by Gary Daubermanpart, Chase Palmer and Cary Fukunaga, one of a two-part movie based on his 1,100-page novel, hit the ground running with a $123m domestic debut just three weeks ago. That was the biggest R-rated horror opening in history and the second-biggest R-rated launch for anything outside of Deadpool’s $132m Fri-Sun launch. And it has held up as a true zeitgeist blockbuster since then, becoming a kind of “kid’s first R-rated horror movie” for a generation of moviegoers.

That already makes the film the biggest-grossing R-rated horror movie in history, ahead of the unadjusted $232 million (counting the 2000 reissue) and $441m worldwide totals of The Exorcist. It is now the -13th biggest R-rated movie ever in unadjusted global grosses, behind Terminator 2: Judgement Day ($520m), The Revenant ($533m), American Sniper ($547m), Ted ($549m), The Mermaid ($553m), Fifty Shades of Grey ($571m), The Hangover part II ($586m), Passion of the Christ ($611m), Logan ($620m), The Matrix Revolutions ($742m), Deadpool ($783m) and the $870m+ Wolf Warrior 2 (technically unrated, but it’s not getting a PG-13 even if they change all that blood to sweat).

In terms of scary movies, and I’m intentionally being a bit loose with the concept, It sits in North America behind Gravity (until tomorrow), The Sixth Sense ($293 million), Jurassic Park ($402m) and Jurassic World ($652m). And in terms of global grosses for scary movies, it sits behind only Jurassic World ($1.6 billion), Jurassic Park ($1b), Gravity ($723m), The Sixth Sense ($692m), The Lost World: Jurassic Park ($618m), War of the Worlds ($592m), I Am Legend ($585m), Kong: Skull Island ($566m), World War Z ($540m) and Godzilla ($529m). And it will pass a few of those by Sunday.

As you can see, for anything resembling a conventional R-rated horror movie, It is in a field by itself. Yes, inflation means that it sold fewer tickets than any number of big R-rated movies from the 1980s and 1990s back when Hollywood made more R-rated pictures as a matter of course, and yes It takes advantage of an overseas marketplace that didn’t quite exist in the era of Psycho. But that’s countered, I would argue, by a marketplace that has countless alternatives and distractions for that entertainment time and money that the films of the pre-internet/pre-DVD era didn’t have as competition.

Whether a movie that isn’t a conventional action fantasy tentpole thriving in theatrical release in a Netflix/YouTube/VOD era cancels out inflation is an open question. But It has already made back 14x its production budget with plenty more still left in the can. We’ll see if this week’s new overseas territories (Greece, Switzerland, Germany and Austria) give it a boost, and it’ll open in Italy on Oct. 19 and Japan on Nov. 3. Barring a miracle, it won’t play in China but perhaps New Line could title the sequel It: Monster Hunt 2 and go all Scooby Doo with a rational/non-paranormal explanation to get an edge in.

We can play the inflation game another time, but A) there is a good chance that It will make more in North America than Thor: Ragnarok and Justice League and B) there is a halfway decent chance that It: Chapter 2 will make about as much as this first film. That’s a conversation for another day, but it’s not like Breaking Dawn part II or Deathly Hallows part II made less than their respective predecessors. Hell, presuming a $575m worldwide cume, a global drop like Mockingjay part II would still give It: Chapter 2 $495m worldwide. And that’s assuming the sequel doesn’t play in China and/or doesn’t go 3D.

So, yeah, It is a bigger smash than even the most optimistic predictions would have, well, predicted. It will be wildly profitable and will set up It: Chapter 2 to be one of 2019’s genuine event films. Oh, and in unadjusted grosses, it is already the second-biggest movie ever starring a clown behind The Dark Knight.

[mae]

https://twitter.com/KevChelios/statu...993088/video/1

[BuctherOfTull]

I Bet Deadpool is so Salty about IT out grossing his him hahaha. Is nice to see SK finally hit it big at the box office.

[Ricky]

Saw it today and though I loved the kids' acting, casting, and the "feel" of Derry, the movie overall didn't do a whole lot for me. Even though it was over two hours AND we're getting a second part, it still felt kind of rushed. Almost like it was a "Greatest Hits" version, stitching together the big moments from the book. Now that I've seen both this and the mini-series, I'm convinced the only way to translate the full power, emotion, characterizations, and horror of the book is with an 8-12 part mini-series.

Speaking of horror, I have to agree with others who said it just wasn't that scary. I actually thought a lot of the scares were kind of corny (and the reliance and number of jump scares instead of horror coming from atmosphere and character was especially disappointing). I liked Pennywise's look, but wasn't a fan of his voice and found it kind of irritating.

[mae]

http://movieweb.com/it-movie-box-off...kend-4-repeat/

The blockbuster Stephen King adaptation IT returned to take the top spot this weekend, after being knocked off by Kingsman: The Golden Circle last weekend, winning with an estimated $17.3 million, followed closely behind by newcomer American Made in second with $17.01 million and last weekend's winner Kingsman: The Golden Circle with $17 million. With all newcomers expected to underperform at the box office this weekend, it was believed to be quite the close race, which turned out to be true, with the top three spots separated by just $300,000. Since these movies are so close together in today's estimates, it's possible, if not likely, that the top three movies may switch spots when the actual numbers are released tomorrow.

Box Office Mojo reports that the IT remake dropped 90 theaters in its fourth frame at the box office, bringing its theater count down to 3,917, but it still earned a respectable $4,419 per-screen average, bringing its domestic total to $291.1 million, with the movie expected to pass the $300 million mark in the next few days. With another $262 million from international territories, the horror blockbuster currently stands at $553.1 million from just a $35 million budget. New Line Cinema is already working on IT 2, which follows these same characters from The Losers Club as adults, when Pennywise the Clown returns to their hometown of Derry, Maine.

Every dollar that the IT movie makes is uncharted ground for any movie in the genre, since, last month, IT became the highest-grossing horror movie of all time, breaking the 44-year-old record set by The Exorcist ($232.9 million). Still, the horror movie isn't expected to top the box office again, even if it does manage to post minimal decreases like this weekend's relatively modest dip of just 41.8 percent. This weekend's newcomers underperforming wasn't terribly surprising, since none of them were tracking particularly well, although it's still possible that American Made (formerly known as Mena) could end up with the top spot when the actual figures are released tomorrow. It was the only newcomer that won favor with the critics, with an impressive 88% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while Flatliners won over literally no critics, with a 0% rating.

[Heather19]

Speaking of horror, I have to agree with others who said it just wasn't that scary. I actually thought a lot of the scares were kind of corny (and the reliance and number of jump scares instead of horror coming from atmosphere and character was especially disappointing). I liked Pennywise's look, but wasn't a fan of his voice and found it kind of irritating.

So I went to see it again this past weekend. I know I previously mentioned how bad the CGI was, but that scene where

Spoiler:

the dead kid comes walking down the stairs with his head blown off, I almost started laughing this time because it looked ridiculous and not scary.

Don't know why they've turned away from doing traditional monster makeup and doing CGI. Yes, I know you would need some of that for that scene but at least the Leper would have looked more realistic. I also wish they didn't have Pennywise moving so fast all the time. Sometimes slow is far creepier, just look at It Follows. That movie was far scarier and way more intense.

[webstar1000]

Speaking of horror, I have to agree with others who said it just wasn't that scary. I actually thought a lot of the scares were kind of corny (and the reliance and number of jump scares instead of horror coming from atmosphere and character was especially disappointing). I liked Pennywise's look, but wasn't a fan of his voice and found it kind of irritating.

So I went to see it again this past weekend. I know I previously mentioned how bad the CGI was, but that scene where

Spoiler:

the dead kid comes walking down the stairs with his head blown off, I almost started laughing this time because it looked ridiculous and not scary.

Don't know why they've turned away from doing traditional monster makeup and doing CGI. Yes, I know you would need some of that for that scene but at least the Leper would have looked more realistic. I also wish they didn't have Pennywise moving so fast all the time. Sometimes slow is far creepier, just look at It Follows. That movie was far scarier and way more intense.

See, that to me was brilliant. That scene did it for a few reasons. When your a kid, did you not picture a mummy or a headless guy not walking just like that??? It was BANG ON how I seen it as a kid and thus added magic. Not to mention, it reminded me of old horror films at the same time. That was the look they went for... I guarantee it. The effects were mint for me... and i just cannot wait to see the next one with the budget being like 5 times what it was. lol

[georgiesarm]

Why do people think the dead boy and the leper were CGI? Those were both actors in make up

[mae]

[Ricky]

I also wish they didn't have Pennywise moving so fast all the time.

Yes! It doesn't make sense to me to put so much emphasis and work into the costume, make-up, etc. and have him nearly running all the time. It wasn't scary. It was annoying.

Did your opinion of the movie change any on second viewing? I really wanted to love it, especially since the trailers made it look so scary and intense, but it just seemed pretty conventional to me (the very thing Fukunaga was trying to avoid).

[Sai Sheb]

I loved the speed of pennywise. Reminded me of the ring!
I thought tge movie was great but may have seen it differently if I hadnt been sat on my own in the picture house!

[divemaster]

That was a leper? I thought it was a zombie.

[CyberGhostface]

Yeah in the book Eddie actually comes across a real leper who offers him a blowjob so Pennywise takes the form of one to screw with him later.

I really wanted to love it, especially since the trailers made it look so scary and intense, but it just seemed pretty conventional to me (the very thing Fukunaga was trying to avoid).

It's hard to put into words given that the film didn't shy away from child abuse or murder but it felt safe in ways that the book didn't.

[mae]

[Brian861]

That's awesome

[Ricky]

It's hard to put into words given that the film didn't shy away from child abuse or murder but it felt safe in ways that the book didn't.

Yeah, "safe" is a good way to put it.

[Heather19]

That was a leper? I thought it was a zombie.

Yes, just a dirty old guy in that scene would have been far scarier. I bet most moviegoers actually thought it was a zombie.

[mae]

This is a fan-made track, it's silly, but I actually really enjoyed it:

[mae]

[mae]

[St. Troy]

Nothing's more entertaining than propaganda, after all.

[CyberGhostface]

lol pretty dead on impersonation from Kate. Poor Pennywise though, being compared to Conway.

[webstar1000]

$630Mil and counting. This will probably end its run around $675-$700 Mil. $35 million to make... WOW WOW WOW. I find this exciting and amazing. Good job to the makers on this.