Will Poulter to play Stephen King's Pennywise Clown

Time to hang up your novelty oversized shoes and peel off the terrifying face paint - the search for Pennywise the clown is over.

British actor Will Poulter (Maze Runner, We're the Millers) has been cast to star as the demonic children's entertainer in Cary Fukunaga's remake of Stephen King's legendary It. 

Poulter's casting is finally adding some flesh to a project that Fukunaga has been working on for over five years: a two-film adaptation, the American director had been vocal on his struggles to find the perfect script, and the right clown.

"I had already read versions of the script but nothing felt right. Everybody tried to put too much into it, telling it from the perspective of the adult and the child in a two hour movie. It didn’t fit. So I decided to throw it all away and start from scratch," said Fukunaga in an interview with Bloody Disgusting.

Fukunaga's take on the story - which has apparently received the blessing of King himself - sees the story divided in two: the first film will follow the plight of the band of teens who go in search of a boy kidnapped by the killer clown, while the second film will focus on the clown's return in their adult years. "It’s really good to know Stephen likes what we did. We [Fukunaga and writers David Kajganich and Chase Palmer] changed names, dates, dynamics, but the spirit is similar to what he’d like to see in cinemas, I think."

Set to begin production in June, we can already imagine Poulter's face spreading in a horrifying, tooth-filled grin. In his role that is, not in response to the casting news - he's a lovely looking lad.  

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(Images: Rex)

[Via: Yahoo]