Xavier Dolan Excitedly Proclaims It “My Favorite Film This Century”

There tends to be this imagined disconnect between mainstream films and arthouse fare, as if the two are separate worlds and the artsier auteurs of the world never deign to even see any mainstream blockbuster. This is, of course, totally incorrect. Even award-winning film festival darlings enjoy a crowd-pleasing big Hollywood production as much as the rest of us. For the latest evidence: consider Xavier Dolan‘s social media exaltation of this weekend’s record-breaking It.

The French-Canadian director, Cannes Grand Prix winner, and one of the most important young LGBT filmmakers working, called It his “favorite film this century” on Twitter. Naturally he punctuated his point with the help of a Devil Wear’s Prada .GIF. To further his point he took to Instagram with even stronger praise.

“This is what entertainment should always be like, and also what it so rarely is,” he wrote. “It should always have standards, and treat you with respect for your taste and intelligence.”

Go see It “for the love of your childhood, for the fears you concealed, and didn’t dare to express,” he also wrote. “For the extreme, moody, masterful beauty of the photography and sets, for the fun, for the unashamed and guiltless sense of pleasure, for the wit.”

Dolan certainly isn’t alone in his praise. The film’s critical praise has been near universal. It holds an 86 percent “freshness” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s also shaping up to be one of the biggest commercial hits of the year. With an opening weekend take that now stands at $123 million, the Stephen King adaptation is now the third highest opening of the year, only behind Beauty and the Beast and Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2. It is also both the highest opening ever for a horror movie and a September release. It falls only behind Deadpool, for the second biggest opening for an R-rated movie in history. Suffice to say, it seems many people are just as excited about the film as Dolan.

Dolan, meanwhile, has his own highly anticipated projects on the way (at least in certain circles). His next film, The Death and Life of John F. Donovan, is in post-production and has an all-star cast that includes Jessica Chastain, Kit Harington, Natalie Portman, Kathy Bates, Susan Sarandon, Jacob Tremblay, and Thandie Newtown amongst other. Dolan himself will also return to acting with a part in the upcoming film Boy Erased, in which he’ll co-star with Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Joe Alwyn, Lucas Hedges, Cherry Jones, and Troye Sivan amongst other.

Of course, an It sequel is already in the works and it might hit cinemas as soon as 2019.

Related: Meet New Scream Queen Sophia Lillis, 15-Year-Old Star of Stephen King’s It

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