'It' box office collection: Stephen King adaptation is the third-largest weekend opener in 2017

The only thing needed to end the long summer drought at Hollywood box office was just a clown, Pennywise.

Stephen King adaptation 'It' movie smashed all the records at the box office and even surpassed the earlier expectations. The R-rated horror movie earned a total of $117.2 million from 4,103 locations.

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With a 135-minute running time, the movie received a fresh rating of 87% on Rotten Tomatoes. According to the analysts, the movie was expected to earn a total $65 million on the opening weekend at the US box office.

But the movie surpassed all the expectations and shattered all the previous records. 'It' witnessed the third-largest opening weekend in 2017 followed by Beauty and the Beast and Guardians of the Galaxy. As Variety noted, the horror flick, which had an estimated budget of only $35 million, about even with Spider-Man: Homecoming which made $117 million.

After the box office faced the worst summer of all time, 'It' saw the biggest opening weekend as a horror or supernatural movie. Variety reports, Paranormal Activity 3 earned $52.6 million in 2011.

Watch the trailer for 'It' here.

Besides its domestic gross, the movie is expected to collect $92 million from 46 markets overseas. Hence, the movie will be able to pull in $179 million from the global market.

Directed by Andy Muschietti, the movie follows a scary-looking clown named Pennywise (played by Bill Skarsgard) who terrorises children in the town of Derry, Maine. But eventually, a group of kids squares off against the evil clown.