It’s been a long road, but finally we have news that IT is happening. Variety reported this week that New Line and Warner Bros. have announced a release date for their adaptation of Stephen King’s terrifying novel. The King novel followed seven children, known as The Losers Club, as they battled a shapeshifting creature preying on the children, in kings fictional town of Derry. Years later, as adults, they must once again return to Derry, to fight the terrifying monster known as “IT”.
Originally, director Cary Fukunaga was helming the project, but he dropped out when he could not get the budget he had hoped for. Andy Muschietti, the director of Mama, quickly stepped in, with plans to turn the book into a two part film, much like the original TV mini series. However the project has had a huge question mark hanging over its head, when reports came in that the film wa on hold. With a release date now in place, the project should swiftly move ahead.
There is no official casting yet, but back when Fukunaga was on board, Will Poulter was pegged to take on the role of Penny Wise the Dancing Clown aka “IT”. Whilst it would be interesting to see Poulter’s performance, I think Ben Mendelsohn would make a truly terrifying Pennywise.
“IT” is to be released September 8th, 2017.
I don’t know how I feel about this. IT is one of my favourite books of all time, but I honestly don’t think it’s a story that will ever translate well into a film or TV series if they try to stick to closely to the source material. Maybe a retelling of the story would be cool, as the premise is really solid.
Given the amount of trouble it’s had already, I don’t think this is going to be particularly successful.