Movies - TV
The Original Ending Of It Was Never Going To Make It To The Big Screen
By ERIC VESPE
Content Warning
The following story contains discussions of sexual behavior involving children.
Andy Muschietti's "It" films were hugely successful, and largely stayed true to the source material. Exceptions to this faithfulness include changes to update the original Stephen King story for the screen; the films also left out three major components of the book's ending, none of which have made it into other adaptations, either.
One controversial part of the "It" book is the scene where every member of the Losers club has sex with Beverly in order to seal their childhood bond. King has defended this scene, but acknowledges that sensitivity to child sexuality is stronger today compared to when he wrote the book; in Muschietti's "It," the sex ritual is changed to a blood oath.
Another part of the showdown between The Losers Club and Pennywise is called The Ritual of Chüd, a psychic battle of wills. In the novel, the ritual involves Bill taking a mind-journey to meet up with Pennywise, and the two stick their tongues in each others' mouths, bite down, and the first to let go loses; this moment has also never made it to film or TV.
Lastly, Pennywise's final form in the novel is that of a pregnant spider, ready to give birth to hundreds of babies that will terrorize Derry and the rest of the world. This could have set up a sequel, so it's surprising that Warner Bros didn't add this detail to Muschietti's "It: Chapter Two"; instead, Pennywise appears as himself, but with giant spider legs.