It simply cannot be overstated just how much the general public latched onto this movie ahead of opening weekend. Generational nostalgia, horror doing well heading into the Halloween season, and even some real-life scary clown happenings all helped fuel the fire leading up to the release of “It.” Box office expectations kept going up and up, with predictions swelling to $60 million for the film’s opening weekend. That would have been a staggering success but, remarkably enough, even those lofty predictions weren’t even remotely close. “It” was going to come out swinging and rank as perhaps the most shocking success story in the history of the box office. I don’t mean to sound hyperbolic but truly, what this movie did is beyond remarkable.

“It” opened on September 8, 2017, riding a wave of sky-high expectations. Even so, nobody could have imagined what was going to happen. The movie pulled in a stupendous $50 million on Friday alone, nearly matching the already massive opening weekend predictions. Come Monday morning, Muschietti’s adaptation of King’s beloved tale had grossed $123 million domestically. Warner Bros. had a runaway hit.

The film stayed atop the charts the following weekend and kept the money train floating for weeks on end. All told, “It” earned $327.4 million domestically to go with a $372.9 million international haul for a grand total of $700.3 million. That makes it the highest-grossing horror movie in history — not just among R-rated horror movies, but horror movies of any kind. Most amazing of all? It did all of this on a $35 million budget, meaning it earned 20 times that in ticket sales. If there were ever a benchmark for success in blockbuster filmmaking, this is it.