After wowing those in attendance at SXSW 2017 – footage from New Line’s modern reimagining screened at the “Face Your Fear” panel under the tentative title, It Part 1 – The Losers Club – the first trailer for Andy Muschietti’s horror pic has now clawed its way online.
Welcoming viewers to the quaint town of Derry, Maine, today’s first-look promo allows us to get acquainted with the young actors anchoring Muschietti’s ambitious It reboot. Together, they form the Losers Club, a pocket of misfits and outcasts who band together in the face of unspeakable evil: Bill Skarsgård’s otherworldly demon, Pennywise the Clown. One star that ought to be familiar to fans of Netflix’s Stranger Things is Finn Wolfhard. He plays Richie Tozier this time around, a member of the Losers Club who winds up being abducted by Pennywise – going off early set photos, at least.
His sudden disappearance is one of many mystery events plaguing the town of Derry, thereby forcing the likes of Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Lieberher), Ben Hanscom (Jeremy Ray Taylor), Stan Uris (Wyatt Oleff), Mike Hanlon (Chosen Jacobs), Eddie Kaspbrak (Jack Dylan Grazer) Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillis) into action as they confront Pennywise head on.
As previously announced, New Line is aiming to stretch the Pennywise saga over the course of two movies, with the second, conclusive chapter set to revisit the Losers Club some 30 years after their first encounter with Skarsgård’s demonic entity. It is, without question, a bold strategy, and we’re intrigued to find out how audiences take to It‘s first chapter before entertaining the possibility of part two.
That being said, many believe that New Line and director Andy Muschietti are treading on hallowed ground by reviving Stephen King’s horror classic, and those aforementioned plans for a two-part arc do raise more questions than answers. Nevertheless, following the reveal of today’s ghastly first trailer, we’ll retain a sense of cautious optimism going into to It‘s theatrical release on September 8th.