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New Line/Warner Bros’ IT Chapter Two has begun its reign of terror at the international box office with $16.5M from 48 markets through Thursday. The Andy Muschietti-directed sequel landed No. 1 in all debuts and set records for a horror opening in both Russia and Italy, notably, topping the 2017 predecessor.
Pre-weekend projections on the debut frame were in the $100M-$110M range. Landing within that certainly looks likely, though more will become clear once numbers for Friday’s 27 further opening markets are posted. They include the UK, Spain and Mexico.
The best offshore comp for Chapter Two is the previous title. It opened No. 1 in virtually all markets in 2017 and broke records on the first day out in a number of plays. That film, which was on a staggered release, bowed to $95M in like-for-likes at today’s rates. The final unadjusted overseas tally was $375M.
The first film did best in the UK, Germany, France, Mexico and Brazil. Horror indexes in Latin America and Europe, with Southeast Asia likely to provide some extra muscle this time around. Korea, which opened on Wednesday, is leading the market with $1.25M through Friday (not fully included in the offshore total above).
In Thursday openers, Russia led all play at $2.1M on 3,215 screens: the best opening day ever for a horror movie (topping It) and WB’s best of 2019. Italy also scored a record horror bow with $1.6M from 840 screens.
Germany grossed $1.1M on 681 with a 64% share of the Top 5 films and tracking as the 2nd biggest opening day ever for a horror film, only behind the first installment (which opened on a holiday). Including previews, the running cume there is $1.5M.
Australia gave Pennywise a 75% share of the Top 5 on Thursday with $625K from 501 screens. This is the 2nd biggest opening day ever for a horror film, only behind It.
Brazil bowed with $555K on 2,022 screens, coming in as WB’s best start of 2019. Including previews, the cume to date is $817K.
We’ll be back with more from the scary clown throughout the weekend.