IT

As we head deeper into September, two things have become pretty clear about 2017 box office numbers: one, Hollywood desperately needs to bounce back a little bit from the doldrums of August, and two, whoever decided to hedge their studio’s bets with a September release date for a movie about a killer clown is looking like a [profanity] genius right about now. We’ll get to all of that in a moment, but first, here are the box office numbers as of Sunday afternoon:

The latest adaptation of IT hits theaters this weekend, bringing Stephen King’s horror epic back to frightening (and weirdly fun) life. But director Andy Muschietti and screenwriter Gary Dauberman have only given audiences half of the story, which takes place in the ’80s and follows a group of misfit tweens — self-described as the Losers Club — as they confront the evil entity that’s been killing kids in their town. The second half follows the Losers almost 30 years later, when they return home to destroy that evil once and for all. Before casting begins for the sequel, which won’t arrive until 2019, we came up with some ideas of our own.

It won’t be hard for this fall to beat the worst summer box office in more than ten years, but it’s gearing up to blow the past few months out of the water. Fall — that is, Thanksgiving, a.k.a. all-the-kids-are-home-from-school-and-looking-for-something-to-do season — is almost upon us, and with it come some of the most exciting blockbusters of the year. And it’s Marvel vs. DC yet again as two superhero movies vie for the top spot.

Plus, is Usher being extorted with a sex tape?

Turns out little kids aren't the only ones scared of red balloons floating above sewer grates.

Stephen King adaptations are a dime a dozen these days (almost literally; rights to his books are famously cheap), but a good Stephen King adaptation, like a properly cooked steak or a movie where Harrison Ford is actually awake, is exceedingly rare. Of the two adaptations of beloved King novels released this year, the idea that IT might be the superior of the pair seemed laughable a few months ago. IT is better than The Dark Tower in every conceivable way, but beyond the inevitable comparison, it’s just really good. Scary good, even.

You know what they say: Everything is better with friends. That includes fighting an evil demonic clown who lives in town sewer system and has an affinity for Victorian era garb. Wardrobe preference notwithstanding, Pennywise is still pretty darn terrifying, especially if you’re already scared of clowns — in which case, you might want to avoid the new trailer for IT.

'It’s gonna be bad for clowns,' says one 42-year-old professional clown.

Horror fans have been waiting for months. Stephen King fans have been waiting for years. And after a week of teasers and sneak peeks, the first trailer for It, Andres Muschietti’s highly-anticipated adaptation of King’s classic horror novel (or one half of it, anyway) is finally here to give us our best look yet at that divisive new take on the iconic evil clown. Beep beep, we’re all gonna float.

After a somewhat tumultuous development stage, the new adaptation of Stephen King’s classic horror novel It is finally heading to the big screen in September, courtesy of Mama director Andy Muschietti. While we wait for the first trailer (which may be arriving sooner than you think), a new photo of Pennywise the clown has debuted online, giving us another look at the iconic villain in a scene that fans of King’s novel and the original miniseries adaptation will immediately recognize.

Ever since the now-infamous photo of Pennywise the evil homicidal clown peeking out of a drainpipe surfaced online, fans of Stephen King’s seminal horror novel It have been concerned about Seth Graeme-Smith‘s upcoming film adaptation. There was fair cause for worry, too; it looked as if light was coming from several different sources, like a hasty photoshop job one might find on the box art for some direct-to-DVD cash grab. The only person who could really set the It devotees at ease would be Stephen King, who has seen dozens upon dozens of his works make the jump to the silver screen. And it would appear that he’s now done just that.

The brightly colored clown suit of Stephen King‘s ‘It’ miniseries is now a thing of the past. In the upcoming Warner Bros. film, Pennywise is sporting another style of garb.