He’s ba-aack.
When we first heard that psychological horror classic of the 90s aka every 90s kid’s worst nightmare, “It”, was getting a remake, we just about freaked out and kept our fingers crossed that the plan would eventually fall through. Oh, you know, the scary movie about an inter-dimensional predatory life-form, which had the ability to transform itself into its prey’s worst fears, allowing it to exploit the phobias of its victims.
Yes, the one about a horrible and sadistic wisecracking clown called “Pennywise the Dancing Clown”.
But despite some glitches in the system – the original director left the project abruptly and it took them a while to find someone to play Pennywise – production is now well underway. Filmmaker Andy Muschietti, who is best known for 2013’s “Mama”, is in the director’s seat for the adaptation of Stephen King’s novel.
And the actors who will be playing the movie’s underage protagonists are Owen Teague (“Bloodline”) as Patrick Hockstetter, Jaeden Lieberher (“Masters of Sex”) as Bill Denbrough, Steven Williams (“The Leftovers”, “Supernatural”) as Leroy Handlon, and relative newcomer Sophia Lillis as Beverly Marsh, among others.
More interestingly, the eponymous villain of the “It” remake will be portrayed by 25-year-old actor Bill Skårsgard. You may recognise him by his familiar last name because his brother is none other than Alexander Skårsgard aka Tarzan in “The Legend of Tarzan“.
Bill, who recently starred in science fiction thriller “The Divergent Series: Allegiant”, his first major American film, will play “Pennywise the Dancing Clown”. In speaking to EW about being tasked to play the same horrifying character that was previously portrayed by Tim Curry in the 90s, Bill said, “Tim Curry’s performance was truly great, but it’s important for me to do something different because of that. I’ll never be able to make a Tim Curry performance as good as Tim Curry.”
He certainly has some big clown shoes to fill! But just in case you’re curious, here’s a first look at Bill in costume as the creepy balloon-wielding clown who will soon feed on your childhood fears once again.
The “It” remake will split Stephen King’s original 1986 novel into 2 movies, with the 1st focusing on the children being stalked by Pennywise and the 2nd picking up decades later when those same kids are confronting their same demons as adults. “It” (Part 1) is slated to open in the US on 8th September 2017.
We bet you can’t wait.
Sources: Screen Rant, IMDb, EW / Featured image: Andy Muschietti’s Instagram.
