Considering the amount of classic novels written by horror master Stephen King, anyone trying to unequivocally claim that IT is the author’s greatest work is likely to be immediately challenged by fellow fans, eager to hold up books like The Stand or Pet Sematary as King’s best. Still, IT is definitely at least in that conversation for most people, which is an achievement in and of itself.
IT is also one of King’s longest books, clocking in at over 1100 pages, and fully qualifying for the label of doorstopper. As one might imagine, IT is a very complex novel, spanning decades of time and frequently taking side trips to explore supporting characters inhabiting the doomed town of Derry, many of which never even appeared in the 1990 ABC miniseries starring Tim Curry that adapted the book for TV. With the first trailer for director Andy Muschetti’s upcoming movie adaptation of IT releasing yesterday, it’s already clear that several elements of the book ignored by the miniseries will feature prominently in the new film, including sociopathic teenager Patrick Hockstetter.
Still, there are certain to also be many similarities between IT (1990) and IT (2017), if only because they both tell the same basic story, with the same principal characters. With that in mind, YouTube user Matt Skuta has taken it upon himself to create a side by side comparison video that puts the newly-released trailer for Muschetti’s film up against similar - or in a few cases, near identical - clips from the 1990 miniseries. Check the full video out, above.
The most striking similarities between the two ITs presented above occur in the iconic sequence where Bill Denborough’s little brother Georgie sails his paper boat down the side of a rain-soaked street, only for the boat to disappear down a sewer drain. This is of course followed by Pennywise popping up and murdering Georgie in horrific fashion. Many of the angles and framing used for the scene in the Muschetti trailer are very similar to that of the miniseries, making one wonder if there was an intentional homage being made there.
One thing also readily apparent when comparing clips from the two ITs is that Muschetti is working with a much larger budget, with much more dynamic lighting effects employed to enhance things. For of all of its primarily Tim Curry-related strengths, IT (1990) tends to consistently look like what it was, a TV movie. Scenes look flat, and often unimpressive, save for when Pennywise shows up to enliven things. It’s too soon to tell whether IT (2017) will be the better overall adaptation of IT, but it definitely looks like Muschetti is starting on the right track.
Source: Matt Skuta
- IT Release Date: 2017-09-08
