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"It," opening in theaters on Friday, is the
long-awaited movie version of King's 1986 horror novel, rated
"R" for gritty thrills, gory deaths and a Loser's Club - the
group of hero teenagers - not shy about cursing and making crude
comments.
"There was still the feeling that 'It' had not been faithfully
adapted in all its glory and it's been 27 seven years since
1990. So it's about time,' director Andy Muschietti said.
Pennywise, first played by Tim Curry in 1990's "It" television
miniseries, preyed on the innocent and poisoned the sense of
security of a small town.
"It" was part of a spate of 1980s films that made a phobia of
clowns, known as coulrophobia, part of the zeitgeist and a
horror movie staple.
Setting the new film in the late 1980s was a personal decision
for Muschietti, who threw in a bevy of 1980s nostalgia with
music and pop culture references for his cast of smart-mouthed
teenagers.
"It's also a time of your life where you basically stop being a
child and ... become being an adult, which is exactly precisely
what happens to the Losers," Muschietti added.
"It" begins with a very vivid homage to the 1990 miniseries as
little Georgie Denbrough, clad in a yellow raincoat, chases a
paper boat down the rain-soaked streets of the fictional
suburban town of Derry, Maine, right to a storm drain.
There Pennywise, a supernatural demon clown, lurks underground
and lures Georgie to a gory fate that kicks off a chain of
deaths for the town's teenagers and strange visions among the
seven members of the Loser's Club.
"'It' scared so many people in the '80s," said actress Sophia
Lillis, who plays Beverly, the sole girl in the Loser's Club.
"Their childhood was based off of 'It' ... so it has this big
fan base around it but I think the basis is nostalgia."
(Reporting by Rollo Ross for Reuters TV and Piya Sinha-Roy;
Editing by Bill Trott)
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