'It' Footage Reaction: The Losers Club Is Tight, Pennywise Is Terrifying [Comic-Con 2017]
Even though the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con didn't officially kick off until today, last night brought a surprising amount of sneak previews to get the party started. One such event included a special Warner Bros. Pictures and New Line Cinema horror presentation called ScareDiego, and it featured brand new footage from director Andy Muschietti's new adaptation of Stephen King's beloved horror novel It.
Warner Bros. and New Line screened roughly 10 minutes of footage from It last night, including two clips and a brand new trailer that won't be released for a little while. So what's the verdict? This is the depiction of the Losers Club that fans of the book have always wanted to see, and Pennywise couldn't be more terrifying.
Read more in our Stephen King's It footage reaction below.
The Losers Club Is a Tight-Knit Squad of Misfits
Following a recorded introduction by Stephen King, something that the author rarely does nowadays, we were introduced to the cinematic incarnation of the Losers Club in the best way possible. Bill (Jaeden Lieberher), Richie (Finn Wolfhard), Stan (Wyatt Oleff) and Ben (Jeremy Ray Taylor) are standing on a cliffside in their tighty-whiteys, overlooking a lake in the middle of a big quarry. At first they're just seeing who can spit a loogie the farthest. Or is it to see who has the biggest one? The group argues about who the real winner is before they get back to the matter at hand: jumping off the cliff.
When no one is brave enough to be the first, Sophia Lillis enters as Beverly, and she has no problem stripping down to her underwear with the boys and leaping off the cliff into the water. Not to be outdone by a girl, all the boys jump in after her, and we get to what's great about this entire sequence.
There's nothing scary about this clip at all, but it shows the genuine camaraderie that exists between this crew. The boys are every bit as tight knit and charismatic as the young stars from the adaptation of another Stephen King novel, Stand By Me. They're also adorably shy when it comes to interacting with Beverly at first. Not only can they not stop staring at her when she's not looking, but Bill in particular seems totally caught off guard every time she's near him, while the chubby Ben is full of confidence and has no problem telling Beverly that her short red hair looks pretty.
Did I say nothing scary happened in this clip? Okay, that wasn't entirely accurate. Because Ben does explain some things he's learned about the town of Derry, Maine, where our story takes place. During a time he didn't have friends, he discovered that people disappear at six times the rate of the national average, and it's even worse when it comes to kids. Of course, we all know why that is.
The bond between the Losers Club is further illustrated when they stumble upon Mike (Chosen Jacobs) being beaten up by the bully Henry Bowers (Nicholas Hamilton) and his two cronies. Rather than backing away and letting someone who isn't part of their group (which now includes Beverly as a regular) get the crap kicked out of them, they spark a rock war. The ensuing battle of rocks being throw across a small stream is set to a fast-paced metal song before concluding with a victory for the Losers Club and a final jab by Richie, who tells Henry, "Go blow your Dad, you mullet-headed a**hole!"
Again, it's the power of this group together that's going to keep them alive, and the chemistry between all these kids is delightful. It will make you feel like you're back in your own childhood (no matter what decade that was in), getting into trouble and being terrified of clowns.
Pennywise the Dancing Clown Is Truly a Nightmare
We made it pretty far without talking about Pennywise, but when the movie's title refers to the entity who often takes the shape of a monstrous clown, we can't ignore him, no matter how much our fears want us to. The clown wasn't glimpsed much in the two clips shown, though he did pop up while Mike was getting beaten up, shown in a quick shot eating the arm of a child while hiding in the woods. It was a gruesome, jarring shot and since it came out of nowhere (not in a jump scare way exactly), it was even more unsettling.
But the real horror of Pennywise was seen in the trailer that will eventually be released. We finally got to hear the higher-pitched voice that Bill Skarsgard is putting on as Pennywise, unrecognizable from his own as he beckons young Georgie Denbrough to take a paper boat from his hands. His glowing yellow eyes that shine in the dark only add to his menacing presence in any scene.
Throughout the trailer, Pennywise pops up to terrorize the Losers Club, grabbing them suddenly, luring them into dark areas, hiding among a room full of equally creepy clown statues and figures. His long reign of terror on the town of Derry, Maine is hinted at as Mike explains that his father thinks the town is cursed because of something bad that happened in the past.
While Tim Curry may have been scary as Pennywise in the miniseries adaptation, Bill Skarsgard's clown has even more of a deceiving innocence because of his high-pitched voice and younger face. The fact that he looks and feels closer in age to the kids is a prospect that feels more terrifying than an older man creeping around in a clown costume.
This Feels Like Adaptation of It Fans Have Been Waiting For
From the depiction of the Losers Club to the horrifying terror that is the new Pennywise, director Andy Muschietti seems to have captured the spirit of the book in spite of the fact that this first part of the story is set during the 1980s rather than the 1950s like the novel. After all, the 1980s do seem to have a similar style to the 1950s when it comes to the carefree fun that these kids have, which makes the disruption by a child-eating clown that much more unnerving. This seems like this will be the definitive version of It that fans have wanted to see for years, but we'll have to wait until September to find out for sure.
Here's the film's new Comic-Con poster:
If you haven't seen it yet, watch the first It trailer right here.
New Line Cinema's horror thriller "IT," directed by Andy Muschietti ("Mama"), is based on the hugely popular Stephen King novel of the same name, which has been terrifying readers for decades.
When children begin to disappear in the town of Derry, Maine, a group of young kids are faced with their biggest fears when they square off against an evil clown named Pennywise, whose history of murder and violence dates back for centuries.
It is coming for you in theaters on September 8, 2017.