It (titled onscreen as It Chapter One) is a 2017 American supernatural horror film directed by Andy Muschietti and written by Chase Palmer, Cary Joji Fukunaga, and Gary Dauberman. It is the first of a two-part adaptation of the 1986 novel of the same name by Stephen King, as well as the second adaptation following Tommy Lee Wallace's 1990 miniseries. Starring Jaeden Lieberher and Bill Skarsgård, the film was produced by New Line Cinema, KatzSmith Productions, Lin Pictures, and Vertigo Entertainment. Set in the fictional town of Derry, Maine, the film tells the story of The Losers' Club, a group of seven outcast children who are terrorized by the eponymous being which emerges from the sewer in the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown (Skarsgård), and face their own personal demons as the monster torments them.
Development began in March 2009 by Warner Bros., with David Kajganich planned to direct, before being replaced by Fukunaga in June 2012. Fukunaga dropped out in May 2015 and was replaced by Muschietti in June. He drew inspiration from 1980s films including The Howling (1981), The Thing (1982), The Goonies (1985), Stand by Me (1986) and Near Dark (1987), and cited the influence of Steven Spielberg. The film was moved to New Line Cinema division in May 2014. Principal photography began in Toronto on June 27, 2016, and ended on September 21, 2016. It was filmed on locations in the Greater Toronto Area, including Port Hope, Oshawa, and Riverdale. Benjamin Wallfisch was hired in March 2017 to compose the musical score.
It premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre, Los Angeles, on September 5, 2017, and was released in the United States on September 8, in 2D and IMAX formats. A critical and commercial success, the film set box office records and grossed over $704 million worldwide, becoming the third-highest-grossing R-rated film at the time of its release, and grossed over $719 million through subsequent re-releases. Unadjusted for inflation, it became the highest-grossing horror film of all time. The film received generally positive reviews, with critics praising the performances, direction, cinematography and musical score, and was called one of the best Stephen King adaptations. It received numerous awards and nominations, including a nomination for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie. It appeared on several critics' end-of-year lists. The second film, It Chapter Two, was released in 2019, covering the remainder of the book. A prequel television series, It: Welcome to Derry, premiered on HBO in 2025, with Skarsgård returning as Pennywise.
Plot In October 1988, twelve-year-old Bill Denbrough makes a paper sailboat for his seven-year-old brother Georgie. Georgie sails the boat along rainy streets, only to have it fall down a storm drain. Attempting to retrieve it, Georgie sees a clown in the drain, who introduces himself as "Pennywise the Dancing Clown". Pennywise bites off Georgie's arm and drags him into the sewer.
The following summer, Bill and his friends Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak, and Stanley Uris run afoul of older bullies Henry Bowers, Belch Huggins, Patrick Hockstetter, and Victor Criss. Bill calculates that his brother's body may have washed up in the marshy wasteland "The Barrens". He investigates with his friends, believing Georgie may still be alive. New in town, Bill's classmate Ben Hanscom learns that unexplained tragedies and child disappearances have plagued Derry for centuries. Fleeing Bowers' posse, Ben meets Bill's group in the Barrens. They find the sneaker of missing girl Betty Ripsom. Patrick is killed by drowned children while searching the sewers.
Bill and Ben develop feelings for bullied girl Beverly Marsh. The group befriends orphan Mike Hanlon, having rescued him from Bowers. Each member of the group has encountered terrifying manifestations of Pennywise: Ben is chased by a headless undead boy, Beverly is attacked by a sink spewing blood, Eddie is chased by a rotting leper, Stan witnesses a painting of a woman coming alive, Mike relives his parents burning alive, and a phantom of Georgie haunts Bill. No adults see what they witness. Dubbing themselves "The Losers Club", they realize they are all being stalked by the same entity, which they dub "It". They deduce that It appears as their individual worst fears, awakening from hibernation every 27 years to feed on the children of Derry, traveling via the sewer lines. In his garage, Bill shows the Losers blueprints of Derry's sewer lines, which lead to an old well under an abandoned house on Neibolt Street. After Pennywise attacks them in the garage, the group attempts to confront It in the Neibolt house, only to be separated and terrorized by their fears. It charges at them, but Beverly stabs It in the head with a metal spike. Pennywise retreats after injuring Ben. The group flees; traumatized by their experience, they separate.
Weeks later, after Beverly confronts and incapacitates her sexually abusive father, Pennywise abducts her. The Losers return to the abandoned house to rescue her. Bowers, who has murdered his abusive father after being driven insane by Pennywise, attacks the group; Mike pushes Bowers down the well. The Losers descend into the sewers and find Pennywise's lair, which contains decayed circus props and children's belongings, above which the bodies of It's child victims float in mid-air. Beverly, catatonic after being exposed to Deadlights inside It's gaping mouth, is restored to consciousness when Ben kisses her. Bill encounters Georgie, but realizes he is Pennywise in disguise. Pennywise takes Bill hostage, offering to spare the others and hibernate if they abandon Bill. The Losers reject this, battling Pennywise while overcoming their various fears. The Losers beat Pennywise before Beverly stabs It in the face with a broken pipe. It retreats, falling down a well. Bill finds Georgie's bloodstained raincoat, and the group comfort him as he cries.
As summer ends, Beverly informs the group of a vision she had while catatonic, of them fighting Pennywise again as adults. The Losers swear a blood oath that they will return if Pennywise ever returns. After the others make their goodbyes and disperse, Beverly and Bill discuss her moving away to live with her aunt. Bill reveals his feelings and they kiss.
Cast
Jaeden Lieberher as Bill Denbrough:The leader of the group of kids known as the Losers Club, who vows to get revenge on the monster with the help of his friends. Bill losing his brother makes the battle against it a more personal crusade for him than any of the others. That and his stutter is what binds him to the group and transforms him into Big Bill, the leader. On the character of Bill, Muschietti stated: "Bill is like a ghost in his own home: nobody sees him because his parents can't get over Georgie's death." Ty Simpkins was considered for the role in Cary Joji Fukunaga's production. On the description of his character, Lieberher remarked of Bill that: "He's very strong and never backs down. He does what he thinks is right and would do anything for the people that he loves." Lieberher spoke of influences such as YouTube and Colin Firth's performance in The King's Speech (2010) in assisting him to develop Bill's stutter, while researching and getting used to stuttering on certain words, certain syllables, certain letters and sounds. Bill Skarsgård as It / Pennywise The Dancing Clown:An ancient, trans-dimensional evil that awakens every twenty-seven years. Will Poulter was previously cast in the role but was forced to drop out due to scheduling conflicts, with Poulter stating, "I was [attached] when Mr. Fukunaga was directing, but the circumstances at New Line are such that a new director's attached now." Poulter continued, "I think, with all due respect to him of course, I was selected by Cary and subscribed to Cary's vision for the movie, and so I haven't had a chance to connect with that [new] director." Mark Rylance, Ben Mendelsohn, Kirk Acevedo, Hugo Weaving, Jenny Slate, and Tilda Swinton were considered for the role, with Mendelsohn passing on the project, as New Line wanted him to take a sizable pay cut. On June 3, 2016, The Independent officially reported, after final negotiations took place, that Muschietti had chosen Skarsgård to portray the character. On portraying Pennywise, Skarsgård stated, "It's such an extreme character. Inhumane, It's beyond even a sociopath, because he's not even human. He's not even a clown. I'm playing just one of the beings It creates." Skarsgård described the character further, saying, "It truly enjoys the shape of the clown Pennywise, and enjoys the game and the hunt." He also commented, "What's funny to this evil entity might not be funny to everyone else. But he thinks it's funny." On Pennywise's design, Skarsgård stated, "It's important that we do something fresh and original for this one. It's purposely not going toward that weird, greasy look." He also commented on being compared to Tim Curry, stating that, "Curry's performance was truly great, but it's important for me to do something different because of that. I'll never be able to make a Tim Curry performance as good as Tim Curry." Skarsgård also elaborated on his age, stating, "There's a childishness to the character, because he's so closely linked to the kids. The clown is the manifestation of children's imaginations, so there's something child-like about that." Producer Dan Lin spoke of Skarsgård's physical attributes: "His build is really interesting. He's really tall and lanky, and feels a little clown like in his movement. When he came in — we had a lot of different actors read, and when he came in he had a different spin on the character that got us really excited." Lin concluded by comparing the character with that of Heath Ledger's Joker, "You've had [Ledger] doing almost a clown joker, you've seen obviously Tim Curry as a clown. We wanted someone who created a Pennywise character that would stand on its own and Bill came in and created this character that frankly freaked us out." Muschietti spoke of Skarsgård's Pennywise as one not to lurk in the shadows, to which he remarked, "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." Muschietti also spoke of wanting to make the sense of dread that grows in Derry part of the dread of Pennywise, to which he stated, "He's not just a character that can shape-shift, his influence is all around. The anticipation of him is almost scarier than the actual Pennywise scares." On selecting Skarsgård to portray Pennywise, Muschietti wanted to stay true to the essence of the character, and Skarsgård caught his attention, "The character has a childish and sweet demeanor, but there's something very off about him. Skarsgård has that balance in him. He can be sweet and cute, but he can be pretty disturbing." Producer Barbara Muschietti referred to Skarsgård's Pennywise as "the ancestral clown", shunning 21st century modern clown characteristics and instead hearkening back to 18th century aesthetics with 'upgrades'." Jeremy Ray Taylor as Ben Hanscom:A shy, overweight boy with a crush on Beverly, who relays the incidents of Derry's past to his friends. On the character of Ben, Muschietti spoke of him knowing a situation of despair, on top of the terror of It and the fear of heights, and added, "Ben is bullied at school."