The Remake of Stephen King’s “It” Now Has a Trailer And You Now Have Nightmares
WHAT: The terrifying first trailer for the long-gestating remake of Stephen King’s It.
WHO: Director Andrés Muschietti, and a cast of mostly unknown child actors.
WHY WE CARE: For a long time, it seemed as if the most interesting thing about this project would be the behind-the-scenes drama. Hot off the zeitgeist-snatching success of True Detective season one, director Cary Fukunaga announced he would be adapting the much-loved book and network miniseries into a two-part film. After writing a screenplay, however, Fukunaga eventually left what had become a troubled production in the summer of 2015. After a brief limbo period, directing duties fell to Andrés Muschietti, who helmed the surprise horror hit, Mama. Some of the excitement around the possibilities of the Stephen King-inspired enterprise had undoubtedly dissipated. No longer, though. Now that the first of the two films has a trailer, it seems difficult to argue that fans are in good hands. Although the clip starts with a very familiar paper sailboat floating perilously close to a sewage drain, things quickly deviate from the 1990 miniseries. For instance, there’s a slideshow scene that goes off the rails in a way that seems true to the spirit of the original, even though it didn’t happen in it. (For our money, these kinds of deviations are what make remakes and adaptations most worthwhile.) And although much has been said about how no performance could possibly be as chilling as Tim Curry’s take on Pennywise the Clown, the glimpses we get of Bill Skarsgård hint that he may be worthy of the big (clown)shoes he has to fill.