It: Chapter Two is poised to explode at the worldwide box office, but some parents in Australia would like to see billboards advertising the film blown to smithereens! According to multiple reports from Australian television stations, parents are ready to pull down the billboards that are reportedly terrorizing their children.
Parents say advertising for an upcoming horror film should be banned from roadside billboards because the image is scaring their children. #9Newshttps://t.co/fKeKcCdpHf
— 9News Australia (@9NewsAUS) August 30, 2019
Jane Swan, a mother of some of the terrified tykes, is ok with people watching horror films, but doesn’t want her kids missing out on their forty winks due to Pennywise’s ugly mug. Swan even took her fight to an Australian advertising watchdog and claims that she was told that “Ad Standards generally has no jurisdiction over the placement or timing of advertisements, except when considering the use of language or sex, sexuality or nudity in advertising.”
Surprisingly, this isn’t the first time that a poster featuring an evil clown stirred up parents. In 2015, posters for the remake of Poltergeist featuring a similar diabolical clown generated over 70 complaints in the UK. As reported in Campaign Live, “The Advertising Standards Authority also acknowledged that the ad may have caused distress to some people but ruled the image was ‘not menacing … [and] included no other images that there likely to contribute to such an impression.”
It: Chapter Two is expected to debut within anywhere from 90 to 110 million dollars in box office receipts in North America alone, but the sequel currently is tracking lower when compared to the first film, especially with critics. It: Chapter Two currently clocks in with a score of 68% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, 18 percentage points below Part One (and top critics scores are an even scarier 45% rotten).
Be sure to check out HNN’s box office report this Sunday to see how high It: Chapter 2 was able to “float” at the box office.
