'It' Director Andy Muschietti Shares Images From The Set
The long-gestating film adaption of Stephen King's It has been quietly filming for several weeks now under the direction of Mama's Andy Muschietti. While our only official look at the film has been the first image of Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise the Dancing Clown (the default form of the evil "it" of the title), Muschietti has been quietly sharing images from the set on his Instagram page, teasing details that should send a chill right up the spine of any seasoned horror fan.
A tip of the hat to Birth Movies Death, who first brought these posts to our attention.
First up is this storyboard featuring Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Lieberher), the leader of the group known as the "Losers' Club" and the closest thing the It ensemble has to a proper lead, making a paper boat for his younger brother, George. We know this is early in the film because that paper boat ultimately leads poor George to a horrific fate, propelling Bill and the other "losers" into a gruesome showdown with an ancient, shapeshifting, child-murdering entity.
A photo posted by Andy Muschietti (@andy_muschietti) on
Next up is another storyboard, this one featuring Bill leading his bike, nicknamed Silver, across a lawn. Interestingly, the phrase "He thrusts his fists against the posts but still insists he sees the ghosts" has been scrawled across the picture. In King's novel, this is a rhyme that Bill uses to battle his chronic stutter. Could he be saying it to himself as he approaches this house? After all, there is a house in It that would cause even the bravest kid to cling to a personal mantra like a security blanket. We'll get there in a second.
A photo posted by Andy Muschietti (@andy_muschietti) on
Here's a close-up of Silver itself, which looks like it has seen better days. This version of It will adapt half of King's novel, with the sequences originally set in the 1950s brought into the 1980s. The sequences original set in the 1980s will be brought into modern day for a potential sequel. Anyway, the point is that it's impossible to make a genre movie starring kids in the '80s unless 40% of the running time involves them riding bikes around small towns. See also: Stranger Things.
A photo posted by Andy Muschietti (@andy_muschietti) on
Yeah, okay. That appears to be a severed head. We may not be getting that Cary Joji Fukunaga version we were so excited about, but Muschietti doesn't look like he's pulling any punches.
A photo posted by Andy Muschietti (@andy_muschietti) on
One of the greatest aspects of It is how King paints such a detailed portrait of Derry, Maine, the fictional town that has been home to all kinds of evil over the years (and has appeared in more than a few King stories). By the end of the book, you feel intimately familiar with this awful little place. So yeah, seeing accurate street names is the kind of small touch that should draw the eye of King aficionados.
A photo posted by Andy Muschietti (@andy_muschietti) on
That is the front gate of 29 Neibolt Street, the decrepit house that serves as a base of operations for "it" and its various forms. It is home to a few of the novel's most startling moments, including an encounter with a horrifying and disfigured "homeless man" (actually one of it's many guises). It should be noted that Javier Botet, the impossibly tall and thin actor who has played monsters in REC, The Conjuring 2, and (wouldn't you know it?) Mama, has been cast in this role. Anyway, could this be the house Bill is walking toward in the storyboard we saw above?
A photo posted by Andy Muschietti (@andy_muschietti) on
And finally, this brings us to this missing poster featuring the smiling face of Richie Tozier, a member of the Losers' Club and one of the main characters in the story. There are two things to note here. First: Richie is played by Finn Wolfhard, who is riding high after playing Mike Wheeler in Netflix's Stranger Things. Second (and this is a spoiler for those who haven't read the novel): Richie survives the encounter with it as a child and never actually goes missing at all. This means that the film will either make a few drastic changes to the story or this is a piece of viral marketing. BMD speculates that we will soon see an entire series of these posters featuring the entire young cast and I'm inclined to agree.
A photo posted by Andy Muschietti (@andy_muschietti) on
It is set to arrive in theaters on September 8, 2017.