New 'IT' Movie Images Reveal More Looks at Pennywise the Clown

A new issue of the British movie magazine Empire has included new shots of Pennywise from this fall's adaptation of Stephen King's It, which gives us some of our best looks yet at the creepy clown. Check out scans of the magazine below.

What's clear from these photos and footage we've seen from the film is that director Andy Muschietti is trying to steer clear of the look of a clown that was featured in the 1990 adaptation in which Tim Curry played the clown. That version opted for a clown look that was much more similar to contemporary clown outfits and the makeup they'd wear, hoping to evoke an emotional connection viewers would have to clowns at the time.

Rather, this R-rated version of the clown is leaning far more into the inherent creepiness of the more traditional look of early Vaudevillian clowns that date back much further. One interesting trait that sticks out about Pennywise's makeup is that it features sharp corners and edges, with contemporary clowns adopting a custom of rounding off all the corners on their facial makeups as it makes children they encounter feel more at ease.

Famously, John Wayne Gacy, a serial killer from the '70s who entertained at children's parties on the weekends as a clown, was self-taught in his makeup application and his makeup featured sharp corners.

The upcoming adaptation isn't a remake of the 1990 mini-series, but rather a new adaptation of the source material, which will lead to many differences in the new film.

"I worked really hard to create my own interpretation of the Stephen King character," Bill Skarsgard, who plays Pennywise, explained to Bloody Disgusting. "Tim Curry's performance is understandably iconic, still, but the whole [mini-series], to me, at least, felt like something that might be worth a remake of, or rather, a re-adaptation, is kind of how I want to see the film. It's not a remake of the TV show or the original mini-series, but it's a re-adaptation of Stephen King's book."

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.

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.