Of all the memorable sequences from Stephen King‘s original It novel and its subsequent live-action mini-series adaptation, the one that has stuck with fans most is the opening scenes in which Georgie confronts Pennywise in the sewer. This scene was previously screened at San Diego Comic-Con and with the theatrical release of Annabelle: Creation, which has finally made its way online. Check out a clip from the scene above!
In the scene, Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott) heads out during a thunderstorm with a paper boat his brother has made for him to use in the gutters. While pursuing the rapidly moving vessel, Georgie loses track of it, only to head into a sewer. In his attempts to retrieve it, he meets Pennywise, who entices Georgie to join him down in the sewer. Sadly, this is one of Georgie’s last moments alive.
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Previously portrayed by Tim Curry in the 1990 mini-series, the image of Pennywise looking up from the sewer is one of the most famous images of creepy clowns in history, in addition to the visual being one of the most recognizable from a Stephen King adaptation. With only a couple weeks before the film will hit theaters, this is one of our best looks yet at Bill Skarsgard’s performance as the clown.
An important distinction about the upcoming film is that it’s not a remake, but a different adaptation. Rather than trying to recreate elements of the mini-series, the new It will take liberties with the source material as they see fit, including big differences with Pennywise himself.
“To be honest, I wasn’t a big fan of the mini-series,” director Andy Muschietti explained to SFX Magazine in a recent interview. “I was not a child anymore when it came out in 1990. So my attachment was very much to the book and to the world of Stephen King more than the mini-series.”
“I wanted to stay true to the essence of the character,” Muschietti previously explained to Variety about this being a reinterpretation of the source material. “I knew that I didn’t want to go the road of Tim Curry. Bill Skarsgard caught my attention. The character has a childish and sweet demeanor, but there’s something very off about him. Bill has that balance in him. He can be sweet and cute, but he can be pretty disturbing.”
It lands in theaters September 8.
