97 Fun Facts About It Movie

Who directed the 2017 film It?

Andy Muschietti, fresh from Mama, took over in mid-2015 after Cary Fukunaga walked away from three years of development; Fukunaga still shares the writing credit.

What color raincoat does Georgie wear when he meets Pennywise?

Yellow is the color of Georgie's raincoat, and of the film's saddest prop: at the end Bill finds what is left of the coat in It's lair and finally accepts his brother is gone.

Who plays Pennywise the Dancing Clown in It (2017) and its sequel?

Bill Skarsgård was kept away from the child actors until their first scene with the clown, so their shock on meeting him was real; brothers Alexander and Gustaf also act.

Which actor was cast as Pennywise under Cary Fukunaga but left after the director changed?

Will Poulter won the role in May 2015, weeks before Fukunaga quit; he later dropped out, citing his schedule and his loyalty to the first director's vision.

In the opening of It (2017), what does Georgie chase down a rainy street to a storm drain?

Georgie chases a paper sailboat that Bill folded and waxed for him; it washes into the storm drain where Pennywise waits.

In which season of 1989 do the Losers confront Pennywise in It (2017)?

Summer is when the Losers fight back, months after Georgie vanishes one rainy October; the film moves the childhood story three decades on from the novel's 1958.

In It (2017), how often does the creature wake from hibernation to feed on Derry's children?

It wakes every 27 years to feed; the sequel picks up exactly one cycle after the Losers first drive It off, when Mike calls the others home.

In It (2017), where is the entrance the Losers use to reach It's sewer lair?

A well under the house on Neibolt Street leads down to the lair; Bill works it out from old sewer blueprints he lays out for the others in his garage.

Which Loser is chased by a rotting leper?

Eddie, the hypochondriac, meets his fear of disease in person as a rotting leper; in the sequel he fights it again and nearly chokes it to death.

In It (2017), who leads the gang of bullies that torments the Losers Club?

Henry Bowers, played by Nicholas Hamilton, leads the gang; driven mad by Pennywise, he kills his own father before attacking the Losers.

How is Beverly revived after being left catatonic by looking into It's mouth?

Ben kisses her and she wakes; he is the secret author of the love poem she treasures, though it takes her until the sequel to be sure it was not Bill.

Who plays Bill Denbrough, the stuttering leader of the Losers, in It (2017)?

Jaeden Lieberher plays Bill Denbrough; by the time the sequel came out he had taken his mother's surname and was credited as Jaeden Martell.

Which Stranger Things actor plays the foul-mouthed Richie Tozier?

Finn Wolfhard was first cast as Richie under Cary Fukunaga; when that version collapsed he went off to make Stranger Things, then had to audition all over again.

Who plays Beverly Marsh as a child?

Sophia Lillis plays young Beverly Marsh; she has said the child cast was not allowed to see the clown before their scenes, because they wanted the horror to be real.

In which region was the 2017 film It shot?

The Greater Toronto Area hosted the 2016 shoot; lakeside Port Hope played Derry because the director wanted an idyllic town to contrast with the story.

Who composed the score for It (2017)?

Benjamin Wallfisch built the score on big, old-fashioned adventure themes, then wrote a quiet, whispered tune for Pennywise meant to infect all the other melodies.

Roughly how much did It (2017) gross worldwide in its original run?

It took about $700 million worldwide on a $35 million budget, making it, at the time, the highest-grossing horror film unadjusted for inflation.

The $13.5 million Thursday previews for It (2017) took the R-rated record from which film?

Deadpool had held the mark; a day later It nearly matched in a single day what Paranormal Activity 3, the old R-rated horror record-holder, made in a whole opening weekend.

The 2017 film It set the record for the biggest opening weekend in which month?

September had never seen anything like it: the debut of roughly $123 million more than doubled the month's previous best, Hotel Transylvania 2's $48 million.

Producer Dan Lin compared the bond between the kids of It (2017) to which earlier Stephen King adaptation?

Stand by Me was his touchstone: Lin called It an homage to 1980s movies and said each Loser, like the kids of that film or The Goonies, has a very specific personality.

Which studio division ended up producing It (2017) after the project moved in 2014?

New Line Cinema took the project over from parent Warner Bros. and greenlit it at $30 million; Cary Fukunaga left a year later after clashing with the studio.

Who plays adult Bill in It Chapter Two?

James McAvoy plays the adult Bill, now a successful novelist who cannot escape complaints about his endings, in the 2019 sequel.

Who plays the adult Beverly Marsh in It Chapter Two?

Jessica Chastain plays the adult Beverly Marsh, reuniting with the director of her 2013 film Mama; the first film's young Beverly had already named her as the dream choice.

Which comedian plays the adult Richie Tozier in It Chapter Two?

Bill Hader plays the adult Richie Tozier; asked after the first film who should play his grown-up self, the young Richie had picked Hader.

The sequel It Chapter Two opens in 2016 with Pennywise killing which character?

Adrian Mellon is beaten by a gang at a carnival and thrown from a bridge to where Pennywise waits; King modeled the scene on a real 1984 killing in Maine.

In It Chapter Two, what is the name of the ceremony Mike believes can destroy It?

The Ritual of Chüd has the Losers burn tokens from their past; Mike keeps quiet about the fact that it failed, fatally, for the tribe he learned it from.

Stephen King cameos in It Chapter Two as what?

Stephen King plays a pawn shop owner who sells the adult Bill back his childhood bike, Silver; Peter Bogdanovich cameos as a film director.

In It Chapter Two, how did It arrive on Earth?

On a meteorite millions of years ago, an origin Bill sees for himself when a friend drugs his water to bring on a vision of Derry's distant past.

Derry in King's It is his portrait of which Maine city?

Bangor is the model, King has said: he drew on the lore around its sewer system for It, which went on to be America's best-selling hardcover novel of 1986.

In King's novel It, set in 1958, the creature attacks Richie as which 1950s movie monster?

The Teenage Werewolf is what Richie had just watched at the cinema, so It wears that shape, varsity jacket and all, when he and Bill explore an abandoned house.

In Stephen King's novel It, the creature's benevolent counterpart is an ancient being of what kind?

Maturin, a turtle, is It's ancient opposite; in the novel he is said to have vomited up the universe, and Bill meets him in the Macroverse.

In Stephen King's novel It, what human name does the creature give itself?

In the novel It introduces itself as Bob Gray, 'also known as Pennywise the Dancing Clown', when it speaks to Georgie from the storm drain.

Stephen King has said his novel It grew out of which fairy tale?

Three Billy Goats Gruff came to mind as King walked over a bridge in Colorado; he pictured its troll living under a whole city instead, down in the sewers.

Who played Pennywise in the 1990 television miniseries of It?

Tim Curry so unnerved the 1990 cast and crew that they kept away from him on set; between takes he would bare his sharp teeth at child actors who came too close.

On which US network did the 1990 miniseries of It air?

ABC first approved an eight-to-ten-hour version with George Romero directing; cut down to two nights without him, it still drew nearly 30 million viewers.

Where was the 1990 miniseries of It filmed?

Vancouver, British Columbia, hosted the three-month shoot in 1990, which is why most of the supporting cast are faces from Canadian stage and television.

What true form does It take at the climax of the 1990 miniseries?

An enormous spider-like monster is It's true form at the climax; the finished puppet let down its own cast and director, and John Ritter called it a 'muppet from hell'.

The prequel series It: Welcome to Derry premiered in 2025 on which network?

HBO premiered It: Welcome to Derry in October 2025; set in 1962, it is built from the novel's interlude chapters and brings back the films' Pennywise actor.

The actor behind the 2017 Pennywise went on to play which classic vampire in a 2024 film?

Count Orlok, in Robert Eggers's 2024 Nosferatu, took dozens of prosthetics, a moustache and a voice he lowered with help from an opera coach.

In It (2017), a glimpse of what inside the creature's mouth leaves Beverly catatonic?

The Deadlights do more than stun her: in the sequel the Losers work out that the glimpse is what left Beverly with visions of things to come.

In It (2017), what erupts from Beverly's bathroom sink that her father cannot see?

Blood coats the whole bathroom, yet her father walks in and notices nothing: only children can see what It shows them, so the adults of Derry are no help.

At which Hollywood venue did the 2017 film It hold its world premiere?

The Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard hosted the premiere three days before a release that had already set Fandango's advance-sales record for a horror film.

In It (2017), which Loser is menaced by a woman who steps out of a painting?

Stan is the one: It brings a distorted woman in a painting to life for him, because each Loser is hunted by whatever he or she fears most.

In It (2017), Pennywise keeps telling the children 'we all' do what 'down here'?

Float is the promise, and it proves literal: the Losers find the bodies of his victims hanging in mid-air above his lair, floating being the director's metaphor for dying.

Which old children's song did the composer of It (2017) weave into Pennywise's second theme?

Oranges and Lemons had disturbed the composer since he was a child; he wanted a children's song to voice Pennywise's strange, demented inner monologue.

In It Chapter Two, what has Beverly Marsh become as an adult?

A fashion designer is what Beverly has become, yet she is trapped with an abusive husband, an echo of the father she escaped as a girl.

In It Chapter Two, what do the Losers finally use to defeat Pennywise?

Insults do it: belittled until it shrinks into a small, wailing creature, Pennywise is left weak enough for the Losers to pull out its heart and crush it.

In It (2017), which real pop group does the shy Ben Hanscom secretly love, to Beverly's amusement?

New Kids on the Block are his guilty pleasure: Beverly catches the band on his Walkman, then spots their poster on his bedroom door. She is the only Loser who notices.

In It Chapter Two, the novelist Bill Denbrough is repeatedly told that his books have terrible what?

Endings are the running joke, a wink at a familiar complaint about Stephen King's own novels. The author himself turns up in the film for a cameo.

Which actor, famous from the Old Spice commercials, plays the adult Mike Hanlon in It Chapter Two?

Isaiah Mustafa became an overnight star through the 2010 adverts. Before acting he was signed to the Tennessee Oilers' practice squad as an NFL hopeful.

Which 1970s hit did the 2017 film It overtake as the top-grossing horror release in unadjusted US takings?

The Exorcist's US total stood at $232.9 million. Pennywise beat that mark and its worldwide total too.

Why were the child actors of It (2017) kept away from their Pennywise until their first scene together?

So their fear was real, the clown was held back until the cameras rolled. The plan worked: the director said the children were truly unnerved when the tall, drooling figure first walked on set.

In Stephen King's It, which nickname do Richie Tozier's peers give him for his sarcastic running commentary?

Trashmouth stuck because he cannot stop joking, often at the worst moments. In the novel he grows up to talk for a living as a disc jockey.

In It (2017), what kind of apparition chases Ben Hanscom, the new boy who studies Derry's grim history?

A headless boy pursues him, one of the children killed in a town disaster decades earlier. Each Loser is stalked by a different private terror before they compare notes.

In It Chapter Two, the ever-anxious Eddie Kaspbrak has fittingly grown up to do which job in New York?

A risk analyst for an insurance firm suits a man who sees danger everywhere. In the novel he instead runs a limousine rental company.

Which American folk hero's huge statue was put up in a park to turn a real town into Derry for It (2017)?

Paul Bunyan, the lumberjack of tall tales, went up in the town's Memorial Park. In King's novel the creature attacks the grown-up Richie in the form of that statue.

Which hurricane shut roughly half of Florida's cinemas during the record opening weekend of It (2017)?

Irma closed nearly half the theaters in a state that usually supplies about 5% of US ticket sales. The film still opened to more than $120 million at home.

In Stephen King's It, what is the name of the marshy wasteland where the Losers build a dam and a clubhouse?

The Barrens is a patch of scrubland by the Kenduskeag Stream that also holds the town landfill. The children treat it as their home away from home.

In It Chapter Two, viewers learn Bill Denbrough skipped going out with Georgie that rainy day by pretending to be what?

Sick is what he claimed to be, and the lie feeds the guilt that the creature later turns against him. In the novel he really is ill in bed that day.

In It (2017), Derry's cinema marquee pairs Lethal Weapon 2 with which superhero film to fix the year?

Batman shares the marquee, and both titles came out in 1989. One young cast member watched the pair to pick up period references he could improvise with.

Which young actor from It (2017) later joined the DC superhero film Shazam! in the role of Freddy Freeman?

Jack Dylan Grazer, the Losers' fretful Eddie, played Freddy in 2019 and returned for the 2023 sequel.

For It (2017), the director changed the job of Stanley Uris's strict father from Stephen King's novel to what?

A rabbi, a change made to load the boy with duty and paternal pressure. His first filmed scene, a bar mitzvah speech, took about ten hours to shoot.

In It (2017), the orphaned Mike Hanlon is haunted by visions of his parents dying in what?

A fire took them both, which is why his grandfather is raising him on the edge of town. He joins the group after the others rescue him from bullies.

In It Chapter Two, which job has Mike Hanlon taken as the only Loser who never left Derry?

The town librarian has spent the decades studying Derry's past, and he alone remembers what happened in 1989. He is the one who phones the others.

Stephen King's trio of invented Maine towns links Derry and Jerusalem's Lot with which third setting?

Castle Rock completes what is called his trinity of Maine towns. Derry itself first appeared in a 1981 short story, five years before the famous novel.

In Stephen King's novel It, what name does Bill Denbrough give the childhood bicycle he later rediscovers?

Silver is the bike, and at the end of the book a ride on it wakes his wife from a catatonic state.

Which 1980s adventure about a gang of misfit kids did the composer of It (2017) name as a model for his score?

The Goonies, scored by Dave Grusin, was one touchstone, alongside the big orchestral themes of John Williams and Alan Silvestri.

In It (2017), Mike Hanlon works for his grandfather Leroy, who runs which kind of business near Derry?

A slaughterhouse on the edge of town is the family trade. Leroy returns as a much younger man, an Air Force major, in the 2025 prequel series.

At the end of It (2017), Beverly Marsh tells Bill she is leaving Derry to live with which relative?

Her aunt takes her in once the school holidays end. Before she goes, she tells the others of a vision of them all fighting the clown again as grown-ups.

In It Chapter Two, the once-bullied Ben Hanscom has slimmed down and made a successful career as what?

An architect with his own firm in upstate New York is what he has become. A board member there is played by the actor who was young Ben in the 1990 miniseries.

In It Chapter Two, Bill Denbrough chases a doomed boy through which attraction at the Derry carnival?

A house of mirrors is where the clown takes the child right in front of him. He had first met the boy at the storm drain where Georgie died.

In It Chapter Two, Pennywise lures a girl named Victoria beneath the bleachers during which event?

A baseball game is in full swing overhead as the clown coaxes her into the shadows. The scene shows It hunting again just as the Losers come home.

At the climax of It Chapter Two, what do the Losers crush with their bare hands to finish the creature?

Its heart is pulled out by Mike once the monster has shrunk to the size of a crying infant, and the friends squeeze it together.

Where do the surviving Losers gather to comfort Richie after the final battle in It Chapter Two?

The quarry is where they gather, having left one friend's body in the collapsing cavern. Soon afterwards the scars on their hands disappear.

Which child actor, later a comedy star and voice actor, played the young Richie Tozier in the 1990 miniseries of It?

Seth Green played the bespectacled joker years before Austin Powers and Family Guy made him famous. He was cast out of Los Angeles for the part.

Which much-loved sitcom star played the adult Ben Hanscom in the 1990 television miniseries of It?

John Ritter, the star of Three's Company, took the part in the same year he made Problem Child.

Which psychic character from The Shining turns up in Derry in the prequel series It: Welcome to Derry?

Dick Hallorann appears as a young airman whose telepathic gift the military wants to use. Chris Chalk plays the role Scatman Crothers made famous in 1980.

Gary Dauberman, a screenwriter on both It films, went on to write and direct a 2019 film about which haunted doll?

Annabelle Comes Home took him away from the sequel, so Jason Fuchs was brought in as his replacement.

The star who plays the adult Beverly in It Chapter Two had earlier led which horror film by its director?

Mama, from 2013, was the director's debut feature, co-written with his sister. The siblings had named her as their first choice for the part before she signed on.

In It Chapter Two, which keepsake signed by Beverly does Ben Hanscom bring as his artifact from the past?

A yearbook page is his choice, collected on a return visit to his old school. Each Loser must find an object like it before facing the creature.

In Stephen King's novel It, the adult Eddie Kaspbrak wounds the creature by spraying what down its throat?

Asthma medicine works because he believes, with a child's conviction, that it is acid. The monster's own power of imagination is turned against it.

Stephen King was living in which Colorado city in 1978 when the idea for It first came to him?

Boulder was home to the King family at the time. The idea struck as he walked alone one evening to collect his car from a repair shop.

A 1998 television series reworked Stephen King's It with a local cast for viewers in which country?

India got its own version, in which the clown is played by the actor Lilliput and the Losers Club becomes a group of local friends.

Which young star was a frontrunner for Beverly Marsh in It (2017) but grew too old as the project stalled?

Chloë Grace Moretz outgrew the role during the delays, and took the lead in another Stephen King story, the 2013 remake of Carrie.

In Stephen King's It, which disaster in Derry's past killed scores of children during an Easter egg hunt?

An ironworks explosion took 102 lives, 88 of them children, even though every machine had been shut down.

In Stephen King's novel It, what is the profession of Audra, the wife of the grown-up Bill Denbrough?

An actress, she follows him to Derry out of worry and is carried off to the creature's lair. Olivia Hussey played her in the 1990 miniseries.

The director of It (2017) based the painted woman on which artist, whose portrait hung in his boyhood home?

Amedeo Modigliani was the model: the future director found the picture frightening as a boy and read its stylised features as monstrous.

In It (2017), which missing schoolgirl's sneaker do the boys find while searching for Georgie's body?

Betty Ripsom is one of several children on the missing posters around town. The director shared mock versions of those posters online during the shoot.

In It Chapter Two, which seemingly sweet old woman now lives in Beverly Marsh's childhood home?

Mrs. Kersh welcomes her in before turning into a monstrous witch. The prequel series shows her younger self, Ingrid, and her family tie to the clown.

Which actor, known as Ziggy Sobotka in The Wire, plays the adult Eddie Kaspbrak in It Chapter Two?

James Ransone was already a horror regular as the deputy in the Sinister films, and he went on to appear in The Black Phone.

Which veteran director of The Last Picture Show appears as himself, filming a novel by Bill, in It Chapter Two?

Peter Bogdanovich plays the director adapting one of the hero's books for the screen. The author of the real novel has his own walk-on in the same film.

Which prize did Stephen King's novel It win in 1987, after topping the US hardcover bestseller list?

The British Fantasy Award went to the book the year after it came out. It was also shortlisted for the Locus and World Fantasy prizes without winning either.

In Stephen King's novel It, the creature first appears to the young Mike Hanlon in the shape of what?

A giant bird attacks him when he is out exploring alone. The 2017 film swapped the creature for a vision drawn from his family's past.

In Stephen King's novel It, what is the name of the alternate universe that the creature originally comes from?

The Macroverse lies outside our own universe, and Bill travels there in spirit during his duel of wills with the monster.

In which later Stephen King novel does the hero pass through Derry and talk with the young Richie and Beverly?

11/22/63 sends its time traveller, Jake Epping, to Derry in 1958, shortly after the Losers' first victory over the creature.

In Stephen King's novel It, at which Derry landmark does Stan Uris first meet the creature, as drowned children?

The Standpipe was a water tower with a public staircase, closed to visitors after several children drowned in its tank.

The teaser trailer for It (2017) took the 24-hour online views record from the trailer for which film?

The Fate of the Furious lost the title when the teaser drew 197 million views in a day. One GQ writer singled out its slide projector scene.