We already knew that there was a Tim Curry Pennywise the Clown Easter egg in this year’s IT Movie, as it was revealed in one of the trailers, but I felt it would be interesting to point out again, now that the movie is out on digital, and will soon be released on Blu-Ray, as many fans might not be aware that it’s even in the film.
It occurs in the “Beep, Beep, Richie!” scene. It’s interesting that it made its way into the film, considering director Andy Muschetti had some pretty negative things to say about it:
“Most of the people are excited about seeing a good adaptation. There are naysayers. Those tend to be the people who are fans of the miniseries rather than the fans of the book. People who read the book and got the book, they’re not crazy about the miniseries. It was a very watered-down version. It didn’t contain the darkness that the book had. They couldn’t make something for TV about a clown who eats children.”
He continued:
“I wanted to stay true to the essence of the character. I knew that I didn’t want to go the road of Tim Curry [who played Pennywise in the TV miniseries]. Bill Skarsgard caught my attention. The character has a childish and sweet demeanor, but there’s something very off about him. Bill has that balance in him. He can be sweet and cute, but he can be pretty disturbing.”
He did admit that he understands how Curry’s version terrified so many people, however:
“I totally acknowledge how iconic that miniseries was for a generation. But also you have to say that it impacted that generation because they saw it with very young eyes as a TV movie or on VHS. A lot of people don’t remember the whole thing, but they are terrified of the iconic scenes of the clown behind the sheets in the beginning and the storm drain.”
For what it’s worth, 2017 Pennywise actor Bill Skarsgård said he doesn’t think the performances should be compared:
“I sort of grew up with the Tim performance and I was very familiar with it and a huge fan as an actor, so my process of preparing for the role was, “okay this needs to be different” and I think we did that, I think this Pennywise is different and they can stand alone – there’s no need to compare them as you can appreciate both but it was important to me to do something new and something original with the take on the character.”
More Easter eggs are sure to be spotted when the film is released to Blu-Ray on January 9th, 2018.
What did you think of this year’s IT Movie? Are you a fan of the Tim Curry version? Be sure to tell us your thoughts on both in the comments!