‘IT’ director Andres Muschietti is not a fan of the original adaptation of Stephen King’s novel.
The filmmaker is at the helm of the second screen version of King’s chilling novel about a child killer on the loose in an American town, and he’s admitted he didn’t love the 1990 TV mini-series starring Tim Curry as terrifying clown Pennywise because he wasn’t a child when it aired.
He told SFX magazine: "To be honest, I wasn’t a big fan of the miniseries.
"I was not a child anymore when it came out in 1990. So my attachment was very much to the book and to the world of Stephen King more than the miniseries."
Despite feeling detached from the mini-series, he appreciates it was "iconic" and it produced a young generation of horror fans, but thinks its most terrifying moments were summed up in two scenes.
He said: "I totally acknowledge how iconic that miniseries was for a generation. But also you have to say that it impacted that generation because they saw it with very young eyes as a TV movie or on VHS.
"A lot of people don’t remember the whole thing, but they are terrified of the iconic scenes of the clown behind the sheets in the beginning and the storm drain."
And Muschietti – who made his name making the 2013 horror ‘Mama’ – is confident his forthcoming movie will go down well with older audiences because King, who has seen the new version, absolutely loved it and was "moved" by his interpretation of the book.
He said: "He sent me a personal note. When he saw it, we started exchanging emails.
"He said it exceeded his expectations. He was very moved. He loved it."
‘IT’ comes out in the UK on September 8.
Stephen King’s IT director not a fan of original Tim Curry show
