If there was ever any doubt that New Line and director Andrés Muschietti’s ambitious, two-part It remake would pander to a PG-13 audience, let it be known that the horror film will be rated R so as to fully “embrace the source material.”
That source material is, of course, Stephen King’s nervy page-turner from 1986, one which unleashed the monstrous clown known as Pennywise upon the unsuspecting masses of Derry, Maine. For this new interpretation, New Line has assembled a motley crew of young up-and-comers, who together will form the Losers Club of It. Among them is Stranger Things actor Finn Wolfhard, who is all but set to become a missing person when the lights go down on September 8th. His disappearance places the town of Derry on red alert, though it’s really the core cast of kids – namely Jaeden Lieberher, Jack Dylan Grazer, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs and Jeremy Ray Taylor – who spearhead the search for their missing friend.
Referencing the iconic bond of Stand By Me, producer Dan Lin spoke to Collider in anticipation of The LEGO Batman Movie swooping into theaters tomorrow, February 10th. Soon after confirming that aforementioned R rating, Lin offered up some context regarding the camaraderie between the film’s leading stars.
“It is a rated-R movie. If you’re going to make a ‘Rated-R movie’, you have to fully embrace what it is, and you have to embrace the source material. It is a scary clown that’s trying to kill kids. So, of course that’s going to be a rated-R movie. The kids are amazing. You very much get a Stand by Me vibe as far as their camaraderie and the way they joke with each other and that they really care for each other. They do have a scary crown that’s taken over the town of Derry, so it’s going to be rated R.”
The first installment of New Line’s It reboot has been penciled in for September 8th of this year. Still no mention of when the second, conclusive chapter in Muschietti’s horror saga will arrive, but we assume the studio will refrain from announcing anything too soon in fear of detracting from September’s remake.