LOS ANGELES • It has been a horrible year so far at the North American box office, but horror king Stephen King may just help banish the fears for the rest of 2019.

A robust audience turned out to catch It: Chapter Two - based on a King novel - in theatres over the weekend.

Warner said It: Chapter Two earned an estimated US$91 million (S$126 million) from North American ticket sales in its first weekend.

Trailing only its predecessor that debuted to a record US$123.4 million in September 2017, the launch of It: Chapter Two is the second-highest opening for a horror film and for the month of September which, before It, was not a strong month for blockbusters.

It: Chapter Two brings the Losers Club back to Derry 27 years later to take on demonic clown Pennywise.

After a downbeat summer for the industry as a whole and a year that is still down 6 per cent from last year, It: Chapter Two is a promising start to the autumn movie season.

There are high hopes that another movie adaptation of a King novel - Doctor Sleep - will also provide a lifeline when it screens in theatres on Nov 8.

The sequel to The Shining (both King's 1977 book and director Stanley Kubrick's 1980 movie adaptation) follows grown-up Danny Torrance, who continues to deal with the psychological trauma inflicted upon him by his father Jack.