Pennywise actor Bill Skarsgård has revealed some details about a disturbing flashback scene that was cut from Andy Muschietti's new adaptation of Stephen King's IT. The movie has been dominating the box office and shattering records as the genre's biggest release to date, and fans are already gearing up for the DVD/Blu-ray release, the director's cut, and the sequel, which is already being rumored to be filled with darker storylines.
While IT is being hailed as great scary movie with ample amounts of humor keeping viewers laughing between the scares, not everything from Muschietti's original vision made it into the film including a flashback scene from the 1600s exploring the terrifying clown's backstory where Skarsgård forgoes the clown make-up for a more human look.
A new report by Variety reveals that Skarsgård recently appeared on their "Playback" podcast and discussed the disturbing scene that was ultimately cut from the film as well as his hopes for Chapter 2. Here is what he said:
"There was a scene we shot that was a flashback from the 1600s, before Pennywise [was Pennywise]. The scene turned out really, really disturbing. And I'm not the clown. I look more like myself. It's very disturbing, and sort of a backstory for what It is, or where Pennywise came from. That might be something worth exploring in the second one. The idea is the 'It' entity was dormant for thousands and thousands of years. The [flashback] scene hints on that."
While Skarsgård didn't go into full detail about the disturbing scene, we are hoping that it will make an appearance in Muschietti's directors cut, which will be released with the home edition at the end of the year. Muschietti has already teased a bar mitzvah scene where Stanley Uris blames all the adults in Derry for the town's dark past, and a funny extended version of the quarry scene where the spitting contest takes place. So, it wouldn't be surprising if we get to see Pennywise's flashback in the extended version of the film adding more depth to the mysterious character.
If the flashback doesn't make it on the director's cut, there's also a chance that we will learn more about the 'It' entity and its ancient history in Chapter 2. Along with discussing the cut scene, Skarsgård also talked about how he's hoping that the second film will delve more into the "metaphysical" aspect of It and the abstract ideas that are present in King's novel that have yet to be explored on screen. Here is what he said:
"The book is very abstract and metaphysical about what it means to exist and the idea of fantasy and imagination and all of these things. I think that could be cool to explore as well. It's like, what is Pennywise? He only exists in the imagination of children. If you don't believe him to be real then he might not be real. There's an interesting aspect to explore there."
Whether or not we get to see the mysterious 1600s Pennywise flashback, based on Skarsgård's comments we are hoping to see more of Pennywise and his long, dark history with the town of Derry when the Losers club returns as adults in Chapter 2 projected to hit theaters in 2019.
Screen Rant will keep you updated on all IT news.
Source: Variety