For so long Stephen King’s books have been mishandled so badly that it’s been surprising that they even get mentioned now and again much less remembered. The 1990 version of IT was perhaps one of the most successful for a long time, but even that paled in comparison to the ideals set forth in the book. Finally though, someone got a hold of one IT and produced something that was both engaging and entertaining, and because of that IT could be the first horror movie to gross $1 billion worldwide.
This could be a serious milestone for horror films since despite the fact that so many of them have done so well throughout the years the only real measure of success has numbered in the hundreds of millions. Action films, comedies, dramas, and fantasy and science fiction films have all made their way easily into the billions, but horror films seem to have always been relegated to the shadows from whence they’ve come.
Not this time though. IT has been climbing and climbing since it opened, and it’s not stopping for breath as it continues to draw people in much like Pennywise did with Georgie. The allure of the horror film has always been there, teasing at the consciousness of humanity like an itch you just can’t seem to scratch, but always kept at a safe distance so as not to infect one with the madness that comes from such a genre. In short the horror movie is one that people love but won’t hold as closely as a drama or an action film. It’s something you enjoy but from a good distance.
So far IT’s rise to the top is more of a prediction than a reality, but it’s getting closer and closer as time continues to go by and more and more people succumb to the curiosity that they can’t help but quell. There’s a good chance that it will surpass even The Exorcist, which is the only film standing in the way at this point of IT taking over the horror genre as the most successful.
This has been a long time coming really. Almost every screen adaptation of a Stephen King story has been butchered in some unforgivable way. With the rise and quick fall of The Dark Tower, which in truth was KIA before ever reaching the theaters, IT didn’t have a lot to look forward to in terms of people really enjoying themselves. After all so much had been given away before the release that people had to think that there was nothing left to see. But lo and behold the stuff we DIDN’T see in the trailers simply blew us away and left us speechless as we allowed ourselves to slip fully into the movie and watch as Pennywise went about his murderous way and continued to terrorize the kids of Derry.
I think it’s safe to say that IT has already surpassed so many expectations that it will go down in cinema history as one of the absolute best films of 2017.
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