Just last month, the world learned that the man inheriting the Pennywise mantle once carried by Tim Curry in the TV version of Stephen King's It for the new big screen outing(s) would be Bill Skarsgård. Today, Entertainment Weekly brings us the first look at his scary clown visage.
This thing, of course, isn't actually a clown. Or even a man. It's a demonic creature that preys on the fears of a group of children in a small Maine town. We'll follow the characters as kids in the first of the two planned films, before the second finds them grown up with no memory of Pennywise, but forced to confront their past when it returns. The initial casting also includes Jaeden Lieberher, Finn Wolfhard, Jack Dylan Grazer, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs and Jeremy Ray Taylor.
“It’s important that we do something fresh and original for this one. It’s purposely not going toward that weird, greasy look,” Skarsgård tells EW. “It truly enjoys the shape of the clown Pennywise, and enjoys the game and the hunt,” the actor says. “What’s funny to this evil entity might not be funny to everyone else. But he thinks it’s funny.” And the creature even shares some traits with its victims. “There’s a childishness to the character, because he’s so closely linked to the kids,” the actor says. “The clown is the manifestation of children’s imaginations, so there’s something child-like about that.” For more from Skarsgård on Pennywise, head to EW's site.
Mama's Andy Muschietti is in place to direct, working from a script that has seen contributions from Gary Dauberman and Chase Palmer. It – the first part, at least – should be terrifying us next year.