Actor Bill Skarsgard wants to make very clear that the upcoming It movie, based upon the wildly popular Stephen King novel, is not a remake of the ’90s TV miniseries. Speaking to Bloody-Disgusting, the Pennywise actor stresses the differences between the film, and his interpretation of Pennywise the Clown.
“I worked really hard to create my own interpretation of the Stephen King character,” Skarsgard said. “Tim Curry’s performance is understandably iconic, still, but the whole [miniseries], to me, at least, felt like something that might be worth a remake of, or rather, a re-adaptation, is kind of how I want to see the film. It’s not a remake of the TV show or the original miniseries, but it’s a re-adaptation of Stephen King’s book.”
For inspiration and clues, as well as to distance himself from Tim Curry’s iconic performance, Skarsgard explains how he went directly to the source material:
“I think it’s almost 1200 pages, but I used the book because what was in the script is not much at all about who this character is. I read the book and I took a lot of notes on anything that describes Pennywise in any way, or describes ‘It’ in any way, so and there’s a lot of like great chapters, where It, like the entity, is the narrator. You hear his thoughts and what he thinks and all these things, and so there was this huge source material to go from, like, ‘Oh, what is this saying, why is he here, what does he think like, what does he like, what doesn’t he like?’ — I could use all of those things to come up with my own interpretation and my own version of what It is, and then also what Pennywise is in terms of his embodiment.”
SEE ALSO: Watch the creepy new trailer for Stephen King adaptation It
The idea of a re-adaptation is intriguing. It’s simply no fun to make a shot-for-shot remake of the TV series, and this is a way to make the film appealing for both newcomers, and fans of the mini-series. It makes one wonder what other franchises could get a “re-adaptation”.
hen 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.
It is set for release on September 8th, 2017, with Andy Muschietti directing Bill Skarsgard (Hemlock Grove) as Pennywise alongside Jaeden Lieberher (St. Vincent), Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things), Jack Dylan Grazer (Tales of Halloween), Wyatt Oleff (Guardians of the Galaxy), Chosen Jacobs (Cops and Robbers), Jeremy Ray Taylor (Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip), Owen Teague (Bloodline), Sophia Lillis (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and Nicholas Hamilton (Captain Fantastic).
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Originally published July 29, 2017. Updated November 30, 2022.
