The supernatural horror film “It,” based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name, premiered in the U.S. on September 8. This is not the first time the novel has been adapted into a film. In 1990, a two-part miniseries starring Tim Curry as the iconic dancing clown aired on ABC for two consecutive nights.
The miniseries was a success and managed to attract 30 million viewers. Curry was also praised by critics for his performance as Pennywise. With that said, here are a few interesting facts about the miniseries that you probably didn’t know.
Tim Curry initially turned down the role of Pennywise
Tim Curry was the perfect actor to portray the evil clown. So much so, that his performance was praised by many and was even compared to the likes of Jason from “Friday the 13th” and Freddy Krueger from “Nightmare on Elm Street.”
However, that almost didn’t happen as Curry reportedly turned down the role the first time it was offered to him. Apparently, Curry didn’t like the idea of going through heavy amounts of makeup again after his role in Ridley Scott’s fantasy film, “Legend,” where he played the role of the Devil.
Thankfully, Curry changed his mind after the director, Tommy Lee Wallace, promised him that he would keep the prosthetics needed for him to become the scary looking clown down to a minimum.
If Curry had not taken the role, the producers of the miniseries reportedly considered Alice Cooper for playing the role of Pennywise, as well as Roddy McDowall and Malcolm McDowell.
Tommy Lee Wallace didn’t read the novel
Speaking of the director, it’s very interesting to know that he was able to create the two-part miniseries even without reading the novel itself.
Instead, he relied entirely on the screenplay given to him by the screenwriter, Lawrence Cohn.
Years after the miniseries premiered on ABC, Wallace was able to take the time and read Stephen King’s masterpiece. After that, Wallace admitted that the miniseries never reached the level of terror Stephen King intended for it.
Tim Curry hated the ending
Just like everyone who has seen the film, Curry also didn’t like the ending of the miniseries. He said that he was very disappointed after being turned into a spider. Apparently, the novel’s ending was too intellectual for network executives. That is why the Ritual of Chud was replaced with a puppet and a slingshot instead.
Wallace was also disappointed at the ending, as he intended a totally different scenario while the film was still in its storyboard phase.
