‘IT’ Movie Adaptation Reveals First Look at Bill Skarsgard’s Frightening Pennywise the Clown from Stephen King’s Horror Novel in New Promotional Photograph

‘It’ is an upcoming big-screen adaptation of Stephen King’s horror novel of the same name starring Bill Skarsgard as the titular evil clown Pennywise. A new promotional photograph showed Skarsgard as the frightening main antagonist out to torment children.

According to IGN, a new promotional photograph for Andres Muschietti’s upcoming live-action big-screen adaptation of Stephen King’s horror novel of the same name has been released. The image featured Skarsgard in full makeup as Pennywise the dancing clown, the film’s iconic protagonist originally portrayed by Tim Curry from the miniseries released in the 1990s.

Skarsgard is set to play the film’s primary antagonist, a demonic entity and shape shifter that takes the form of a sadistic clown out to torment his victims including the children from the Losers group. The 25-year old actor is the son of actor Stellan Skarsgard and younger brother of Hollywood hunk Alexander Skarsgard.

He made his film debut on 2000’s ‘White Water Fury’ and went on to appear on various films including ‘Simon & The Oaks’, where he was nominated for a Guldbaggage Award for his leading role as Simon. He also worked on 2012’s ‘Anna Karenina’, 2013’s ‘Victoria’, and 2016’s ‘The Divergent Series: Allegiant’.

Skarsgard told Entertainment Weekly that his version of Pennywise will be less greasy compared to evil clown depictions such Heath Ledger’s Joker in ‘The Dark Knight’. He said, “It’s important that we do something fresh and original for this one. It’s purposely not going toward that weird, greasy look.”

He teased some details of Pennywise saying, “It’s such an extreme character. Inhumane… It’s beyond even a sociopath, because he’s not even human. He’s not even a clown. I’m playing just one of the beings It creates.”

Skarsgard added, “It truly enjoys the shape of the clown Pennywise, and enjoys the game and the hunt,” the actor says. “What’s funny to this evil entity might not be funny to everyone else. But he thinks it’s funny.”

He admitted that taking on a role made famous by the multi-awarded Curry will be a challenge. He said, “Tim Curry’s performance was truly great, but it’s important for me to do something different because of that… I’ll never be able to make a Tim Curry performance as good as Tim Curry.”

Muschietti’s upcoming film will be split into two parts. The first part will follow the boys of the Losers gang as children tormented by It while the second will tell the story of them as grown-ups returning home to finally get rid of the supernatural being.

According to Global News, the new adaptation’s storyline will shift from the original late ‘50s setting to a late ‘80s setting. Part two will be set in the 1990s.

‘It’ is an upcoming supernatural horror film directed by Andres Muschietti and written for the big screen by Gary Dauberman and Chase Palmer. It is a live-action adaptation of Stephen King’s novel of the same name. It is produced by KatzSmith Productions, Lin Pictures and Vertigo Entertainment.

The film is scheduled to be released on September 8, 2017 in the United States.