It: New Pennywise the Clown Will Haunt Your Dreams

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It was only a month ago that we learned just who would be taking on the mantle of Pennywise the clown that was once carried by Tim Curry in the TV adaptation of Stephen King’s It; now Entertainment Weekly have our first look at Bill Skarsgård in his scary clown make up.   

Of course, it’s not really a scary clown. In fact, it’s not really a man at all. It's a demonic creature that preys on the fears of a group of children in a small Maine town. We'll follow the characters as kids in the first of the two planned films, before the second film finds them grown up with no memory of Pennywise, but forced to confront their past when it returns…possibly riding in a demented demon clown car… or not… 

And the word you’re looking for? Coulrophobia. No, don’t look up what it means. You’re already experiencing it. 

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One man who could tell us all about the aforementioned phobia is Skarsgård himself.

 I’ve been doing some clown research,” Skarsgård tells EW. “I’m not sure if there was so much clown phobia before the novel. There’s obviously been this thing where people find clowns are unsettling, but nobody explored it the way Stephen King did.”

The initial casting also includes Jaeden Lieberher, Finn Wolfhard, Jack Dylan Grazer, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs and Jere my Ray Taylor.

"It’s important that we do something fresh and original for this one. It’s purposely not going toward that weird, greasy look,” Skarsgård tells EW. “It truly enjoys the shape of the clown Pennywise, and enjoys the game and the hunt,” the actor says. “What’s funny to this evil entity might not be funny to everyone else. But he thinks it’s funny.”

So it’s The Joker then…a creepy, child-like Joker who inherits the traits of its victims. 

“There’s a childishness to the character, because he’s so closely linked to the kids,” the actor says. “The clown is the manifestation of children’s imaginations, so there’s something child-like about that.”

Mama's Andy Muschietti is in place to direct, working from a script that has seen contributions from Gary Dauberman and Chase Palmer. It – the first part, at least – will manifest itself in the form of a movie next year.

It
The story follows a group of kids called the Losers Club that encounter a creature called It, which preys on children...
Release Dates
15 Jan 2018-Blu-ray
15 Jan 2018-DVD
8 Sep 2017-Cinema
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