IT

Ever since the now-infamous photo of Pennywise the evil homicidal clown peeking out of a drainpipe surfaced online, fans of Stephen King’s seminal horror novel It have been concerned about Seth Graeme-Smith‘s upcoming film adaptation. There was fair cause for worry, too; it looked as if light was coming from several different sources, like a hasty photoshop job one might find on the box art for some direct-to-DVD cash grab. The only person who could really set the It devotees at ease would be Stephen King, who has seen dozens upon dozens of his works make the jump to the silver screen. And it would appear that he’s now done just that.

If you’ve read Stephen King’s It, then the idea of a film adaptation that isn’t rated R sounds preposterous — and yet, it happened before with the 1990 television miniseries (which does not hold up, by the way). For those concerned that the new adaptation from director Andres Muschietti might forgo the R rating in favor of courting a wider audience, the producer of the upcoming film has laid those worries to rest while also confirming that Warner Bros. has every intention of making a sequel.

’Tis the season for images of movies that none of us will be able to see until months from now! The latest was a kind of Christmas present from the folks over at the remake of Stephen King’s It, but unfortunately it’s more awkward than scary. The image shows Pennywise — who else? — lurking inside a larger-than-life sewer pipe, seemingly floating somehow above the ground.

On the scary scale, Bill Skarsgard's Pennywise rates between a sad hobo clown from an oil painting and the clown on a Graffix bong.

The brightly colored clown suit of Stephen King‘s ‘It’ miniseries is now a thing of the past. In the upcoming Warner Bros. film, Pennywise is sporting another style of garb.

Stranger Things creators The Duffer Brothers recently revealed that they once offered to direct the new adaptation of Stephen King’s It, but Warner Bros. politely declined. Instead, they went off and made a Stephen King story of their own with their hit Netflix series. Perhaps returning the shout-out favor, one of the producers behind It is comparing the upcoming film to Stranger Things, thus creating a nostalgia paradox that will inevitably cause the internet to implode.

Clowns are scary enough to most people, but Stephen King took that terror to a new level with It, his coming-of-age horror novel about a group of friends plagued by an evil entity that takes the form of a fearsome clown. It’s impossible to top Tim Curry’s portrayal of Pennywise in the TV miniseries adaptation King’s story, but director Andy Muschietti appears to have done a fair job of delivering something almost as scary in his new film adaptation of It.

Warner Bros. has announced release dates for two of their upcoming adaptations / reboots, adding both films — along with an untitled mystery project — to their 2017 slate. First up is CHiPs, Dax Shepard’s new action-comedy based on the classic ’80s TV series, starring Shepard and Michael Peña in the leading roles. Next is It, the long-developing and slightly-delayed adaptation of Stephen King’s beloved horror novel, which became the subject of some minor controversy following director Cary Fukunaga’s departure.

While Cary Fukunaga’s adaptation of Stephen King’s sprawling horror epic It has now joined the list of great films that might have been, New Line hasn’t entirely ditched the plans set out by the former True Detective director. The studio is still planning on adapting the novel into two films, with the first focusing on the characters as children and the second following them as adults. And though we still mourn what Fukunaga’s version could have been, take solace in knowing that New Line is at least targeting an R rating.

After a very long search that looked at a wide variety of actors, the upcoming remake of Stephen King’s It has found its new Pennywise the Clown. And, you can keep guessing for a very long time, because we’re pretty sure you’ll never guess who it is.