New image from It shows Pennywise lurking in the sewers

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Heading into the holiday weekend, a spy pic leaked out from the set of MAMA director Andy Muschietti's upcoming adaptation of Stephen King's novel IT that showed Bill Skarsgard in character as the evil clown Pennywise. New Line Cinema, the company behind the adaptation, didn't seem too pleased that this lesser quality picture was put out into the world – most sites that shared it have been ordered to take it down (as of this writing, the image can still be seen on the Stephen King fan site Lilja's Library), and soon after a new official picture of Pennywise was released online through Entertainment Weekly.

The new official look at Pennywise offers the familiar sight of the clown lurking in the Derry, Maine sewer system, sticking his head out of a disgusting old pipe. Accompanying this picture was a quote about the character from Muschietti: "Pennywise shows up, he's front and center, and he does his show. He has an act. So it's weird all the time, and every little thing implies a further threat."

Written by Gary Dauberman and Chase Palmer, IT tells the story of

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. 

Starring with Skarsgard are Jaeden Lieberher, Finn Wolfhard, Sophia Lillis, Jack Dylan Grazer, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Owen Teague, Nicholas Hamilton, and Javier Botet.

This adaptation of IT only tells half of King's story – if the film is successful when it's released to theatres on September 8, 2017, the plan is to cover the second half of the story in a sequel.