Will Poulter to play Pennywise in Cary Fukunaga’s IT adaptation

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

We finally have the answer to who will don the red nose in Cary Fukunaga’s IT adaptation, as Variety reports that THE MAZE RUNNER star Will Poulter will take on the role of Pennywise, the evil clown in Stephen King’s classic novel. After considering older actors like Mark Rylance and Ben Mendelsohn for the iconic role, New Line wanted to take a different route and go younger. While it’s tough to get an idea as to what Poulter will bring to the role, sources say in the end, Fukunaga could not say no after being blown away by his audition for the part.

And since the original novel ran at about 900 pages and spanned several decades, the plan is for New Line to shoot one movie focusing on the protagonists as kids and another focusing on them as adults. Fukunaga has scripts ready with Poulter appearing in both films.

The original story followed a group of outcast kids come together over summer break to take on a monster that’s haunting their town, battling their own personal monsters in the process.

I’m glad they went with a relatively unknown actor on this because it just feels right, and I’m excited to see how Poulter’s take on Pennywise stacks up against the great Tim Curry. Dave Neustadter, Niija Kuykendall and Walter Hamada are overseeing for New Line. Production will begin this summer.