IT is highest grossing horror film ever, but Kingsman: The Golden Circle is crowned

Really, they’re all clowns though

Kingsman: The Golden Circle took the top box office spot with a respectable $39 million debut weekend, IT took just two weeks (three weekends) to become the highest grossing horror film of all time, passing The Exorcist ($477.8M to $441.3M). While true that these numbers don’t account for inflation, it’s also true that The Exorcist has had since 1973 and several re-releases to tally that amount.

The rest of the weekend saw modest results, outside of new release The LEGO Ninjago Movie which rounded out the top three with a $20.5 million bow.

This raises two questions, one of which at least deserves serious contemplation:

• Is IT this good of a horror movie (or movie in general) or have standards just fallen so low that anything that recaptures the formula of what works is destined for box office gold?

AND

• Does the success of The Kingsman franchise spell coming and necessary change for the James Bond franchise? Ever since Daniel Craig donned the tuxedo with 2006’s Casino Royale the Bond franchise has dropped gadgets for gritty hand to hand violence, and cut back on the number of quips, but its box numbers are stronger than ever. And while these Kingsmen seem willing to pick up gadgets and gags where Bond left off, and have had success of their own at the box office, the demand still seems strong for both, with Bond maintaining a healthy box office lead. Consider these numbers for the last two Bond films and the first Spectre – $880.7M, Skyfall – $1.1B, and Kingsman: The Secret Service – $414.3M.

1. Kingsman: The Golden Circle – $39,000,000
2. It – $29,765,000
3. The LEGO Ninjago Movie – $20,500,000
4. American Assassin – $6,250,000
5. mother! – $3,260,000
6. Home Again – $3,323,156
7. Friend Request – $$2,400,000
8. The Hitman’s Bodyguard – $1,850,000
9. Stronger – $1,747,910
10. Wind River – $1,265,285