It's been over 25 years since Stephen King's story It was adapted as a TV miniseries. While that live action tale freaked out plenty of people, the 1986 novel is finally getting the big screen treatment next year. Last month, it was reported that Hemlock Grove star Bill Skarsgård will play the new Pennywise, and now we have our first look at the actor as the demonic clown as the movie is still early into principal photography.
You can head over to the main EW article to see the entire picture, but even from the Tweet preview above, Skarsgård as Pennywise looks terrifying! The makeup colors are the same as before, but the new Pennywise looks just as creepy, if not more so, than Tim Curry's version of the clown. It could just be the glare and slight smirk combination, or maybe it's because he's shrouded in shadows, making it seem like he materialized out of nowhere, will grab you off the street and disappear almost instantly. Even Stephen King thought he looked freaky, though the author did admit that clowns in general are "all scary."
Those who have read the It novel or watched the miniseries know that Pennywise is actually a shapeshifting creature of pure evil that can take many forms. It remains to be seen what other creatures hell turn into in this re-telling, but just like before, it's as a clown when it does its best job of exploting other people's fears and phobias to hunt them down.
Along with the image, Bill Skarsgård provided some details on the new Pennywise, including that while they are deviations from Tim Curry's Pennywise, this version of the clown still enjoys delighting in others suffering. He said:
It's important that we do something fresh and original for this one. It's purposely not going toward that weird, greasy look. It truly enjoys the shape of the clown Pennywise, and enjoys the game and the hunt. What's funny to this evil entity might not be funny to everyone else. But he thinks it's funny.
Skarsgård also added that because he's much younger than Tim Curry was when he played Pennywise, that changes the clown's dynamic with the children, adding more "childishness" to how the creature manifests itself to the protagonists. 2017's It remake will only tell one half of the original story. The first movie (which is now set in the late 1980s rather than the 1950s) will follow seven small town children who work together to stop Pennywise's reign of terror. A second movie, assuming its predecessor does well, will follow those same characters returning to the town as adults and running into their tormentor again.
Directed by Andrés Muschiett, It scares its way into theaters on September 8, 2017. Let us know what you think of Bill Skarsgård's Pennywise look in the comments below.
Catch another glimpse at Pennywise the Clown's terrifying look on the next page...
