Bill Skarsgard Cast As Iconic Pennywise The Clown In Stephen King’s ‘It’
By Peter Sciretta/June 2, 2016 1:00 pm EST
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. Warner Bros has been trying to remake Stephen King’s It for over seven years now. Last year, Mama director Andrés Muschietti replaced Cary Fukunaga, who had left over creative differences with the studio. And now it seems like the adaptation/remake is actually happening as casting is being locked down as we speak. Find out who will play Pennywise the Clown and more, after the jump.
Bill Skarsgard Cast As Iconic Pennywise The Clown In Stephen King’s ‘It’
By Peter Sciretta/June 2, 2016 1:00 pm EST
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. Warner Bros has been trying to remake Stephen King’s It for over seven years now. Last year, Mama director Andrés Muschietti replaced Cary Fukunaga, who had left over creative differences with the studio. And now it seems like the adaptation/remake is actually happening as casting is being locked down as we speak. Find out who will play Pennywise the Clown and more, after the jump.
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
It Casting: Bill Skarsgard is Pennywise the Clown
The plan is still to film the adaptation in two parts, with the first movie telling the kids’ story and the second movie jumping to the story of them as adults. The new version was written by Gary Doberman with Muschietti. Producer Roy Lee has promised the new films will have an R-rating. Skarsgard is the son of actor Stellan Skarsgard and the brother Alexander Skarsgard. Bill has appeared in the Netflix horror television series Hemlock Grove as well as Divergent series films Allegiant and the upcoming Ascendant.
Will Poulter was in line to play Pennywise when Fukunaga was directing the project. Fukunaga had written the scripts for both It movies with Chase Palmer but the director reportedly butted heads with the studio about his vision for the project, following budget cuts instituted by New Line. Among other things, the studio took issue with Fukunaga’s insistence on shooting in New York instead of a cheaper location. New Line also wanted a single, more commercial movie. You can read Fukunaga’s comments on how his version of the film fell apart here. The studio was also made nervous by the disappointing opening weekend performance of Fox’s Poltergeist, in part because the marketing campaign also featured a clown.
But if you asked me when I was 11 years old what my favorite Stephen King movie was, I would quickly tell you — the 1990 television miniseries adaptation of It. It scared me, it kept me up, and I loved it. I remember rewatching the VHS copy that I had recorded off of cable, over and over again.
