Pennywise is dancing his maniacal ass all the way to the bank. Made for $35 million, the child-eating clown reboot has now made (as of last Thursday) over $236 million to become the highest-grossing horror film of all time in America.
Adapted from Stephen King’s novel, It sank its teeth in to the box office and took a big ole chunk out of it! And while the money is impressive, it’s also well-deserved. The kids are incredible and Bill Skarsgard is superbly psychotic as Pennywise. Director Andres Muschietti captures the place, childhood, and scares with certainty and brilliance. While leaning heavy on the exploration of coming-of-age, there’s still an undeniable dread that flows from frame-to-frame. It floats to being one of the best horror movies in recent memory.
Outside of the states is a different story. According to Variety, The Exorcist may have lost the battle but not the war, remaining the top horror movie in the world:
“The Exorcist” is still the top-grossing horror film on an international basis, having netted $441.3 million globally to “It’s” $404.3 million. The horror classic also made its money in 1973, so this record doesn’t take inflation into account.
I do have one question: How the fuck has The Exorcist been the most superior horror film for nearly forty-five years?! I get it, the whole demon possession and the head spinning, director William Friedkin shocked audiences back during its initial release. However, by the time I eventually watched it back in college (10-12 years ago), I was deeply confused on what all of the hype was about. Get pissed if you want, but I found it SUPER boring. Lasting over two hours was the movie’s real curse.
Coming from a different generation than those who first witnessed The Exorcist, on top of the kind of stuff that’s in scary movies these days, my reaction is expected to be a little different. A little. From everything I’d heard and read, it felt like I was watching a completely different movie. Even so, I won’t point fingers at those who do enjoy it and are still frightened to this day. Now that doesn’t mean that I don’t think The Exorcist is still overrated—I definitely do.
It being the new king of the horror castle is a wonderful thing, and I had no idea who even held the record ’til now. Finding out The Exorcist has been reigning for decades, blows my brain to smithereens! At the same time, it’s eye-opening to see what that foul-mouth, slime-spewing demon diva and her old religious nemesis have accomplished.
It’s a bona fide classic whether I like it or not.
“Nature Boy” Brandon Vick is the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and star of Brandon’s Box Office In Your Mouth. Follow him on Twitter@SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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