5 Shocking Secrets Of Stephen King’s Original IT Movie

IT has finally arrived. Yes, today finally marks the release of the first installment of Mama director Andres Muschietti’s epic R-rated two-part feature film adaptation of Stephen King’s massive novel IT. And while we all wait in anticipation to see just what the new Pennywise and the filmmakers have in store for us on this go-around, let’s take a look back at the previous adaptation of King’s magnum opus.Brought to us over the course of two nights back in November 1990, ABC’s two-part, two-night presentation of Stephen King’s IT still lives on in the hearts and nightmares of the youth of America. If you’re like us, and the original film was a seemingly unending source of all your waking fears, then join us as we go behind the scenes and expose some of the more shocking secrets of Stephen King’s IT (1990).

5 Everyone On Set Avoided Tim Curry

At one point or another, we were all children. And like all children brought up after the year 1990, there was always a moment during childhood where someone (usually an older brother) would spring a film upon us. We would watch as a little boy in a yellow rain slicker chased his paper boat down a charming, flooded street in the middle of a stormy day in the suburbs. And then the little boy’s boat went down into that storm drain . . .After that, we were never the same, as soon after the little boy goes to retrieve his boat from the maw of the sewer, he is greeted by none other than the living, breathing, giggling nightmare that was Tim Curry’s Pennywise. It turns out, however, that it wasn’t just our childhoods that classically trained thespian Tim Curry ruined with his take on the dancing clown from Stephen King’s classic novel. Nope, the man was all but a pariah on the set of the movie, too.[1]Come on, how could we even begin to blame anyone from keeping their distance from that face?

4 The Director Didn’t Read The Novel Before Making The Film

As crazy as it may sound, the director of Stephen King’s IT hadn’t read so much as a sentence from the source material when he was offered the chance to step behind the camera and helm the two-part adaptation for ABC. Wallace instead chose to merely go off what screenwriter Lawrence D. Cohn (famous for penning another King adaptation with 1976’s Carrie) had handed over to him and the network’s executives.[6]However, years after completing his work on the 1990 miniseries, Wallace, who had worked as John Carpenter’s protege on movies such as Halloween before graduating to directing himself with Halloween III: The Season of the Witch, finally read King’s novel. After giving the massive book a look through, Wallace admitted that his miniseries never reached the heights (and sheer terror) of Stephen King’s magnum opus. I think we’d all have to agree with him on that one.

3 Alice Cooper Was Also Considered For The Role Of Pennywise

Yes, you could argue that this entry could have been part of the previous entry, but we think the idea of Alice Cooper slapping on the clown suit bares an extra bit of attention. Truthfully, we’re not too sure just how serious the film’s producers were about casting Cooper as Pennywise, but either way, this makes for a great bit of trivia.[10]Seriously, take a moment and consider what the dirty diamond would have done with such a meaty role. Even though we will never get a glimpse of just what theatrics Cooper would have had in store for us with his portrayal of Pennywise, we’re sure we would have loved it to death.

2 The Original Two-Part Broadcast Was a Smash Hit

Possibly worried that such a terrifying version of King’s novel was heading straight into the living rooms of millions of viewers, ABC must have had a moment’s hesitation about whether or not their expensive two-part adaptation of IT was going to be a major flop. As it turns out, however, the results were quite the opposite.When “Part 1” first aired on November 18, 1990, the broadcast scored a whopping 18.5 rating and was viewed by a staggering 17.5 million households. “Part 2” was even more successful, gathering up a massive 20.6 rating after 19.2 million people tuned in to see how the nightmare would end—if it ever did. “Part 2” was, in fact, the second-most-watched broadcast on the night it originally aired; Tuesday, November 20, 1990.[3]Looks like America liked their nightmares brought express-style right to their homes via ABC and Stephen King.

1 Tim Curry Originally Turned Down The Role Of Pennywise

Even though Tim Curry turned in a performance of such sheer terror that he is now known among the ranks of Friday the 13th ‘s Jason Voorhees and A Nightmare on Elm Street ‘s Freddy Krueger, at one point, Curry wasn’t sure he wanted to take on the role of the shape-shifting clown from beyond the stars. Curry wasn’t too keen on being placed yet again under heavy amounts of makeup, following his most recent role as the Darkness (aka the Devil himself) in Ridley Scott’s 1985 fantasy flick Legend. However, in a last-ditch attempt to secure Curry for the role of Pennywise—which he knew Curry would be perfect for—director Tommy Lee Wallace told him he would cut down on the number of prosthetics used to turn him into the Macroverse’s most terrifying clown. Curry agreed, and the rest is history.[2]