Stephen King’s massive novel IT was adapted into a miniseries in 1990, bringing to life one of the defining creepy clowns of all time in the form of Tim Curry’s Pennywise. With the 2017 adaptation, director Andy Muschietti’s vision of the creature could make or break the production, which ended up becoming a huge success. The filmmaker recently took to Instagram to show one of his earliest sketches of the monster.
The sketch above reveals some interesting elements that made this version of the monster unique from the version seen in the miniseries.
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Tim Curry’s character, for all intents and purposes, appeared to be a normal clown. It was the actor’s performance that imbued it with its nefarious nature, in addition to a few sequences involving special effects.
Muschietti’s vision of the creature included a bulbous head, which not only mimicked the proportions of a newborn, but exaggerated those features even further to make it appear slightly disfigured.
Another tweak on the design was the choice of outfit, embracing a more antique clown outfit than contemporary garb, hinting at how long Pennywise had been on earth.
Adding to the feeling of disfigurement, Muschietti envisioned the character with deviated eyes, something which actor Bill Skarsgard could pull off without the aid of CGI.
“We were talking about the character, and I said, ‘In post-production I’m going to deviate your eyes,’ and he said, ‘I can do it,’” Muschietti told CinemaBlend earlier this year. “He was here in the morning and he was doing the trick. It’s crazy. What are the chances the guy that you picked for the role could do it?”
While devout fans of King and his novel might have taken issue with various elements of the film, IT went on to become the highest-grossing horror movie of all time, a feat made even more incredible given its R-rating.
The second chapter in the IT saga is slated to hit theaters on September 6, 2019.
