‘It’ Could Be the Savior the Box Office Desperately Needs With Record-Breaking Opening

“It” is now less than one month away from opening in theaters nationwide, and the first box office tracking information has been released and should be a big relief to New Line Cinema and Warner Brothers. Early numbers have “It” opening to at least $50 million, which would make it a record-breaking success as the biggest September opener in film history.

“Hotel Transylvania 2” is the month’s current biggest opener with $48 million. Warner Brothers is being cautious by putting the film’s opening in the $40-$45 million, which is still higher than recent R-rated horror release “Annabelle: Creation” and falls right in line with what “The Conjuring 2” made in its first weekend in June 2016.

Surpassing $48 million at the September box office wouldn’t be the first record “It” has broken. The first trailer that debuted in March broke the record for single most views in 24 hours with 197 million, beating out franchises like “Star Wars” and “Fast and Furious.”

The early box office tracking is a sigh of relief for the industry after an abysmal summer. Hollywood is hoping the fall movie season will turn things around, and “It” now looks like the first major hit of the fall. With titles like “Blade Runner 2049,” “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” and Pixar’s “Coco,” there’s still many blockbusters that could save the year and keep it from falling dramatically from 2016.