It remake gets a 2017 release date, loses its Pennywise

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

A week ago, we learned that MAMA director Andy Muschietti's adaptation of Stephen King's epic literary classic IT is expected to be filming in Toronto nearly all summer long. Now we know when we'll be able to see the result of that shoot, as Warner Bros. has scheduled the film for a September 18, 2017 release.

King's novel centered on 

seven children known as The Losers Club who come face to face with life problems, bullies and a monster that takes the shape of a clown called Pennywise. 

The plan is for this cinematic adaptation to be a two-parter; the first film focusing on the characters as children and the second showing their rematch with Pennywise as adults.

Speaking of Pennywise, when Cary Fukunaga was going to be directing IT last year he cast Will Poulter as the evil clown. Variety now hears that Poulter has had to drop out of the project due to scheduling conflicts, which is no surprise after the director shake-up delayed production for a year. The search is now on for a new Pennywise, and Muschietti has two months to find the perfect person to take on the role.

Whoever plays Pennywise will have big shoes to fill, not just because they're clown shoes but also because Tim Curry delivered such an iconic performance as Pennywise in the 1990 IT mini-series.

All of these roles need to be cast as well