Stephen King’s IT will fully embrace its R-rating

Last Updated on July 21, 2021

I was worried when STRANGER THINGS was such a phenomenon this past summer that the series' success would have a adverse effect on the upcoming adaptation of Stephen King's magnum opus IT. At the very least I was worried – as I should have been – that the flick would water down the source material and give us a PG-13 take on the gruesome, disturbing novel.

Thank God that doesn't seem to be the case. Producer Dan Lin recently spoke to Collider and confirmed that IT is going to be rated R:

It is a rated-R movie. If you’re going to make a “Rated-R movie”, you have to fully embrace what it is, and you have to embrace the source material. It is a scary clown that’s trying to kill kids. So of course that’s going to be a rated-R movie. The kids are amazing. You very much get a Stand by Me vibe as far as their camaraderie and the way they joke with each other and that they really care for each other. They do have a scary crown that’s taken over the town of Derry, so it’s going to be rated R.

Good to fuc*ing know, Dan Lin. 

While even an R-rated adaptation will not be able to fully service the novel's crazier parts (I'm looking straight the fu*k at you LOVE AND DESIRE / AUGUST 10TH, 1958) maybe that is for the best. I don't think we need to see text-accurate depictions of that teen love-fest, or a full, graphic recreation of The Death of Patrick Hockstetter section. Some things are better left on the page and in the imagination.

Actually, I don't even want those two sections in my imagination. Damn you, Stephen King for making the rest of the book so damn good.