Director Says The Monsters From Stephen King’s ‘It’ Will Appear Very Different From The Novel

Virtually every adaptation of a book necessitates a degree of changes from the source material, but when the story you’re adapting is as coveted as Stephen King‘s “It,” finding the balance between inventiveness and faithfulness can be tricky. In the original story, the kids deal with the horrific Pennywise and the many monsters he conjures in the ’50s, but the new film will feature the kids growing up in the ’80s. Director Andres Muschietti revealed to Collider that the monsters the Losers’ Club face will be only one of many changes to the film.

In the book, Pennywise strikes fear in the hearts of the protagonists by forcing them to face popular villains from the era, including The Wolf Man, The Mummy, and Frankenstein’s Monster. Being set in the ’80s, however, these villains might not have the same impact on the main characters.

“We had the freedom of introducing any characters of the book, but I chose to expand that range of fears,” Muschietti noted. “Because I love the book, of course, but the book is basically childhood in the ’50s, which is probably Stephen King’s experience growing up, kids going to the movies and watching monsters from Universal movies like The Mummy and Dracula and Frankenstein and those monsters that are very lovable but a bit dated if you’re going to make an adaptation of ‘IT.’ I wanted to layer those fears and make them deeper and more strange.”

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With horror villains like Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, and Freddy Krueger being more prevalent in the ’80s, could the film go that route? We shouldn’t expect to see those exact characters, as licensing issues could cause problems, but don’t be surprised if slasher analogs take their places.

The storyline revolves around a group of young kids in Derry, Maine who come face-to-face with their worst fears when they square off against an evil clown named Pennywise, whose history of murder and violence dates back for centuries.

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The cast of IT includes: Bill Skarsgård, Javier Botet, Jaeden Lieberher, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Jack Dylan Grazer, Chosen Jacobs, Wyatt Oleff, Nicholas Hamilton, Owen Teague and Logan Thompson.

The adapted screenplay was penned by Chase Palmer, Cary Fukunaga, and Gary Dauberman. The producers on the film include Dan Lin, Roy Lee, Seth Grahame-Smith, David Katzenberg and Barbara Muschietti, with Marty P. Ewing, Doug Davison and Jon Silk serving as executive producers.

Be sure to check out IT when the movie hits theaters on September 8, 2017.