Bill Skarsgård is open to playing Pennywise in a third IT movie, if the story works. Famed horror novelist Stephen King could hardly have known when he created the gargantuan tale of the Losers’ Club and Pennywise the Dancing Clown that it would endure in such a legitimately terrifying manner. Now, the second part to director Andy Muschietti’s IT adaptation is in theatres and so far, IT: Chapter Two is performing well and scaring plenty of eager fans.
Even after the novel was published in 1986, the general public didn’t truly become aware of the story’s frightening nature until 1998, when ABC ran a two-night TV adaptation of IT. Though the IT miniseries had its flaws, it introduced Pennywise (who was then played by Tim Curry) as well as the multitude of terrors that awaited the fictional inhabitants of Derry to those who had never dared to tackle King’s weighty horror tome before. Fast forward 20 years and Pennywise still offers the sort of fear factor that keeps audiences hooked, wanting more, and most important of all, terrified.
Naturally, a major part of the IT movies’ ability to induce fear in its audience is due to Pennywise, as played by Skarsgård. With IT Chapter Two, the iconic shape-shifting villain has reached the end of his tale – or has he? During a recent interview with EW, Skarsgård admitted that he would be willing to portray Pennywise again, but only if it “had the right type of approach to it.” Check out the full quote below:
Stephen King fans are well aware that IT is one book that has been adapted into two parts in order to properly tell the giant tale on the big screen. King has not written a sequel to the best-selling hit, but this is certainly not out of the realm of possibility for the 71-year-old. At present, fans of another one of King’s classic novels, The Shining, are awaiting the release of Doctor Sleep - the official sequel to the 1977 hit novel. King wrote Doctor Sleep back in 2013, with every intention to pair it with The Shining. And while we still don’t know how that film adaptation will be received when it hits theaters at the end of October, its very existence is proof that King is willing to expand on his creative worlds in order to please fans.
“It would have to be the right type of approach to it. The book ends where the second movie ends, so that is the final chapter of this story. There is this interesting aspect of going back in time before all this happened. There might be a story there that might be worth exploring. Obviously that would be a story that’s not in the book, it would be a freestanding story, but obviously within the same universe. So, there might be something interesting out of it. I think it would be fun.”
So, could a third chapter of IT actually work? That’s a difficult question to answer, but one that Skarsgård is certainly willing to look into. It wouldn’t be the first time that a popular series had stepped beyond the realm of its source material (the James Bond series, for example), and it’s something that has been done in a variety of different ways with other films throughout the years, to mixed results. As far as fans are concerned, however, the renewed popularity of IT has proven that people love to be scared by Pennywise, meaning that Hollywood likely isn’t ready to say goodbye to the dancing clown just yet.
Next: Will There Be An IT 3? Everything We Know About More Pennywise
Source: EW
