“You’ll float too,” warns the tagline on the teaser poster for “It,” the first in a planned two-part adaptation of the iconic Stephen King horror tome.
After years of development, a memorable 1990 miniseries that starred Tim Curry, and an acrimonious change-up in director from “True Detective” and “Beasts of No Nation” helmer Cary Fukunaga to “Mama”director Andy Muschietti, “It” is finally coming to the big screen with “Hemlock Grove” star Bill Skarsgård strapping on the ruff and orange wig of every horror fan’s favourite personification of evil, Pennywise the clown.
While King has been notoriously derisive of some of the filmed adaptaions of his works in the past – notably Stanley Kubrick’s version of “The Shining” – the legendary horror author has already signed off on Muschietti’s new adaptation, taking to Twitter to assuage nervous fans:
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Andy Muschietti's remake of IT (actually it's Part 1–The Losers' Club) succeeds beyond my expectations. Relax. Wait. And enjoy.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) March 7, 2017
The lengthy novel has been split into two parts, with the first film covering the childhoods of the main characters in The Losers’ Club while the next installment will cover the characters as adults attempting to defeat Pennywise once and for all. Here’s the official synopsis:
When children begin to disappear in the town of Derry, Maine, a group of young kids are faced with their biggest fears when they square off against an evil clown named Pennywise, whose history of murder and violence dates back for centuries.
As well as Skarsgård, “It” also stars “Stranger Things” breakout Finn Wolfhard, “Midnight Special” kid Jaeden Lieberher as leader of The Losers’ Club, Bill Denbrough, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer, Nicholas Hamilton, and Jackson Robert Scott.
“It” opens on September 8th.