By Travis Johnson
It’s been a long time in gestation, but the two part adaptation of Stephen King’s magisterial It is currently shooting in Ontario, Canada under the direction of Andres Muschietti (Mama), and Entertainment Weekly scooped the first look at the new film’s version of the evil clown, Pennywise, played by Bill (brother of Alexander, son of Stellan) Skarsgård. As you can see, he’s a friendly fella.
The novel, It, follows the exploits of a group of children, The Losers Club, who discover that their home town is stalked by an evil, alien monster that feeds off fear – particularly that of children. Coming together to vanquish the beast, they must reunite 30 years later to finish the job when the thing returns. It is a stone cold classic – easily King’s best novel about childhood – and was translated to the small screen as a miniseries back in 1990 by horror vet Tommy Lee Wallace, with the great Tim Curry as Pennywise.
The upcoming version splits the action neatly in two, with the earlier half being set in 1989. Jaeden Lieberher, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Jack Dylan Grazer, Chosen Jacobs and Wyatt Oleff play the younger versions of The Losers Club, with no word yet as to who will be stepping into their adult shoes.
Director Muschietti is, of course, stepping into the shoes of Cary Fukunaga (True Detective, Beasts of No Nation) who dropped out due to the old “creative differences” thing. Given that he’s moved on to calling the shots on a version of Kubrick’s long lost Napoleon project, that’s probably best for all concerned really.
The first part of It is expected in cinemas in December 2017.
