We knew we were getting a new Pennywise, but I didn’t expect IT to be the kid from WE’RE THE MILLERS.
But according to The Wrap, that’s how it’s going down.
Will Poulter has been cast as the child-hunting Pennywise the Clown in Cary Fukunaga’s adaptation of the classic Stephen King novel, taking on the role once masterfully inhabited by Tim Curry. Poulter’s coming off of THE MAZE RUNNER and his scene-stealing role in MILLERS, and has also featured in SON OF RAMBOW, CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: VOYAGE OF THE DARN TREADER (as the young Eustace) and Alejandro Inarritu’s upcoming THE REVENANT.
We were all wondering how Fukunaga could top the trauma-inducing Pennywise of the original Tommy Lee Wallace miniseries, and he’s smartly sidestepped that comparison by going a totally different route. Tim Curry was 44-years-old at the time of IT, and was already known for his villainous turns in stuff like ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, ANNIE, and LEGEND. He could be scary, but more importantly, he had the talent to be scary on a budget, which was something that TV production definitely needed.
But the JANE EYRE/TRUE DETECTIVE director is giving 22-year-old Poulter (a Brit, like Curry) the chance to get his superevil on as the supernatural haunter that torments (and occasionally brutally murders) the central characters well into their adult lives. He’s being described as “the terrifying lead”, which implies more screentime than Curry got the first time around. Even though this will have a shorter runtime than the miniseries, I’m guessing we’re going to go more in the history of who Pennywise is and why he does what he does, with Poulter as our vehicle into that backstory.
My love for Curry’s turn notwithstanding, I trust Fukunaga on this. It seems like a weird move, but then again I wouldn’t have pegged McConaughey or Harrelson for their TRUE DETECTIVE characters, and they both knocked it out of the park. It seemed inevitable that Pennywise 2.0 wouldn’t be able to match the child-scarring impact of Curry’s take, but by going in a completely different direction, he’s opened the possibility of his Pennywise being EQUAL TO OR SCARIER than the one we all know and love.
Now, we just need a whole bunch of kids and adults for him to terrorize…
