Stephen King Has Seen the New Film Adaptation of IT and He Says Fans Should Stop Worrying
I've been cautiously excited for the upcoming feature film adaptation of Stephen King's classic horror story It. I'm a huge fan of the book, and I loved the 90s TV movie that featured Tim Curry perfect portrayal of Pennywise the Clown.
I was really hoping that director Andy Muschietti (Mama) would be able to pull it off, and according to King, he has. The legendary master of horror has already seen a cut of the film, and according to his long-time assistant Marsha DeFilippo, he thought it was wonderful and told fans that they shouldn't worry. Producer Seth Grahame-Smith shared King's reaction on Instagram:
That's a good sign that It is actually going to be the great movie fans like me were all hoping for! King is the ultimate critic when it comes to his own work, and if he didn't like it, we'd know. We all know how vocal he is about his hate for Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of The Shining. The fact that he praises this movie ups my excitement level for it, and I'm less concerned.
The first film in the two film series will be rated R and it's set in the 1980s and will focus on the "Losers Club" as they come together to battle It. When previously talking about the rating and adapting the novel, producer Dan Lin said:
"It is a rated-R movie. If you’re going to make a 'Rated-R movie', you have to fully embrace what it is, and you have to embrace the source material. It is a scary clown that’s trying to kill kids. So of course that’s going to be a rated-R movie. The kids are amazing. You very much get a Stand by Me vibe as far as their camaraderie and the way they joke with each other and that they really care for each other. They do have a scary clown that’s taken over the town of Derry, so it’s going to be rated R."
The second film starts production soon. It's set 30 years later in modern times when the monster returns and the group of friends are forced to come back together as adults to destroy It once and for all.
The movie stars Jaeden Lieberher (Midnight Special) as Bill Denbrough, Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things) as Richie Tozier, newcomer Sophia Lillis as Beverly Marsh, Jack Dylan Grazer (Tales of Halloween) as Stan Uris, Wyatt Oleff (Guardians of the Galaxy) as Eddie Kaspbrak, Chosen Jacobs (Hawaii Five-0) as Mike Hanlon, Jeremy Ray Taylor (42) as Ben Hanscom, and Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise.
The first film is set to be released on September 8th, 2017.