The town of Derry, Maine and the Losers Club confront unspeakable evil in this all-new promo for Andy Muschietti’s two-part It reboot.
We say two-part reboot because, in accordance with early rumors, New Line has mapped out plans to split Stephen King’s nervy page-turner into two films, with each chapter set to chronicle the Pennywise saga across a pair of interwoven timelines. The first will release under the moniker It Part 1 – The Losers Club, and at the ongoing MTV Awards this evening, New Line took the opportunity to conjure up an all-new promo for Andy Muschietti’s bold, R-rated reimagining.
That rating was put in place so that Muschietti and Co. were able to fully “embrace the source material” when resurrecting Pennywise the Clown for a new generation. Hemlock Grove star Bill Skarsgård has been brought in to play the transdimensional demon. With piercing yellow eyes and that iconic, fuzzy red crop of hair, it’s as though Skarsgård’s entity has clawed its way straight out of your nightmares, and we’re now looking toward It‘s theatrical release in September with a mixture of excitement and trepidation.
On the human side, we know that Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard plays Richie Tozier, who oversees a Losers Club comprised of Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Lieberher), Ben Hanscom (Jeremy Ray Taylor), Stan Uris (Wyatt Oleff), Mike Hanlon (Chosen Jacobs), Eddie Kaspbrak (Jack Dylan Grazer) and Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillis).
As for the R rating, here’s what producer Dan Lin had to say on the matter of adapting the Stephen King classic for a 2017 audience.
“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 crown that’s taken over the town of Derry, so it’s going to be rated R.”
It Part 1 – The Losers Club will be with us on September 8th. Assuming the box office return is to New Line’s liking, a second, conclusive chapter in the Pennywise saga ought to be with us in late 2018/early 2019.