SPOILERS: 5 Shocking (And Terrifying) Details You Need To Know About Cary Fukunaga's Scrapped IT Screenplay

IT has been a box office smash but Cary Fukunaga's (True Detective) was once working on a version which would have been vastly different. Here's all the details we know from the leaked screenplay...

By JoshWilding - Sep 18, 2017 07:09 AM EST

Filed Under: Horror

Before Andy Muschietti signed on to direct IT, a very different iteration of the movie existed. Cary Fukunaga, Chase Palmer, and Gary Dauberman are the credited writers on the movie which arrived in theaters this month but the latter two were part of the project at a very different stage. That would have seen Fukunaga direct and Will Poulter play the demonic clown. So, just how different was it?

Very. We've taken a look through the movie's original screenplay and picked out the major differences between that and the IT which ended up in theaters. While there are some similarities, it's ultimately a very different movie and arguably one which it's hard to imagine being anywhere near as successful.

It was, however, a very unique take on the Stephen King property and would have made fans of the Stephen King novel both very happy and angry in different ways. From new roles for the kids to Pennywise's origin story and flashbacks to the past, this is your guide to what IT could have been.

5. It Would Have Featured An Origin Story For Pennywise

Bill Skarsgard recently confirmed that one of the movie's deleted scenes took place in the 1600s and featured an origin story of sorts for Pennywise the Clown. While that obviously didn't make it into the finished product, the idea was lifted from the 2015 screenplay and sounds truly disturbing. Before taking on the appearance of a clown, Pennywise was shown attacking a young girl.

When her mother steps in to try and save her, he would have easily overpowered her and given the woman a choice; stay and watch her entire family die or leave and sacrifice her daughter's life. That same sort of offer was incorporated into the version of IT released this month when Pennywise got his hands on Bill in the final act so we don't know how much his origin story has changed as this version of the movie featured a totally different sort of conclusion. Skarsgard has, however, said that he wasn't wearing any clown makeup and that there were hints about IT being thousands of years old.

Despite being a hell of a lot weirder than the version we ended up getting, the 2015 IT would not have featured the inappropriate (and disgusting) orgy scene which sees the male members of The Losers Club all take turns having sex with Beverley to move into adulthood and escape the sewers. However, a version of that did sort of find its way into this version as when the kids get lost in the sewer, she takes each of the boys' faces in her hands and has a moment with them which helps them find their way out.

Bev's relationship with her father is also quite different as it's not until their final encounter that he tries to rape her; the hints that he's been abusing her for some time are completely gone and the movie loses one of its best scares when Pennywise doesn't show to kidnap her up after she's killed him. While you have to give credit to Fukunaga for finding a way to put this in there, it comes off as clunky and awkward and was better off being left out.

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3. Flashbacks Would Have Shown Pennywise's Murderous Past

IT may have teased Pennywise's past in Derry through some photographs and old paintings but we never got to see what he'd been up to in the years prior to torturing The Losers Club. In a flashback featured in this screenplay, we jump back to the 1800s and see a lumberjack enter a bar where he proceeds to brutally slaughter a group of men playing cards. No one else in there seems to pay any attention to what's happening and we learn that it's Pennywise playing the piano and controlling his actions in a classic horror reveal.

Another takes us into the recent past where the monster led a group of KKK members to destroy an all-black speakeasy and murder its inhabitants. This version of IT has clearly been using the townspeople to cause death and destruction for a long, long time but beyond making for some scary moments, none of these scenes would have really added a whole lot to the movie.

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2. A Different Conclusion And Pennywise's True Form

The 2017 version of IT delivered a satisfying climax as the kids made Pennywise realise they were no longer afraid of him and used that fear against him. However, things are seriously weird in Fukunaga's draft. Carrying some heavy duty weaponry into the sewer like a crossbow and chainsaw, the Losers travel through an upside-down waterfall and see what appears to be IT's true form as he appears as a monstrous Starfish type creature with tentacles.

There are also spiders who consume the bullies, a sign perhaps that the director was planning on going down that route in the sequel (in the novel, Pennywise appears as a gigantic spider as that's the only form they're able to process seeing). This time, the kids use force to take Pennywise down and do so with M-80s and he ends up deflating like a popped balloon. Sounds kind of crappy, right?

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1. Some Seriously F***ed Up Parents

In the original version of the movie, all of The Losers Club's parents have a much more prominent role. However, they're a pretty odd bunch. Eddie's mother is so obese that she rests a puzzle on her gigantic stomach and Beverley's mother is a drug-addled drunk who waves a used tampon in front of her daughter's face to explain how things work down there. Mike's parents are also alive and while his father is dying from cancer in the second half of the movie, he's the one who tells his son about Pennywise's past transgressions in Derry.

The police take a much more active role in proceedings too. While they laugh off the kids' claims about a demonic entity being responsible for all those missing kids, they do at least attempt to figure out what's going on. Ultimately, though, they frame a one-legged World War II veteran for the killings, a sign that Fukunaga was looking to root things in reality and have the adults provide an explanation for what happened rather than being oblivious thanks to Pennywise's manipulations.

What do you guys think of these details from the original IT screenplay? Would you have preferred seeing this version of the movie? Share your thoughts in the comments section down below.

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61 Comments

1 2

Kioses - 9/18/2017, 7:51 AM

I like the idea of showing pennywise's origin. Could've been cool in that aspect

LEVITIKUZ - 9/18/2017, 7:56 AM

Set photo from Hellboy

ElJefe - 9/18/2017, 10:43 AM

@LEVITIKUZ -

Is the Right Hand of Doom gold or bronze colored? Doesn't look red...could be the lighting.

He looks big though!

TheBigLebowski - 9/18/2017, 7:58 AM

Felt conflicted about the movie; stuff with the kids was great but the scares fell flat. Overall not bad, but would have still liked to see what an auteur like Fukunaga would have brought to the table. I'm all for weirder shit in mainstream movies

Ha1frican - 9/18/2017, 12:44 PM

@TheBigLebowski - Dude if the second bathroom scene didnt make you jump you are dead inside lol

IronGenesis - 9/18/2017, 8:00 AM

I did feel the TV series did a better job is showing o how the town and the adults are manipulated/can't see everything that is happening.

Ha1frican - 9/18/2017, 12:47 PM

@IronGenesis - Really? I thought the bathroom scene really nailed that

IronGenesis - 9/18/2017, 1:16 PM

@Ha1frican - that scene, but there were those creepy scenes in the series with Beverly getting picked on by Henry and an old man across the street simply looking at them and continuing to take out his trash or something.

The IT tv series I felt was influenced by the Nightmare on Elm Street dream sequences where adults act weird and things are just a little "off" with the world. If that makes sense.

Ha1frican - 9/18/2017, 1:23 PM

@IronGenesis - I think we will see more of that in the sequel. there really werent many adults in this one, and most of what you are talking about was from the adult part of the series. Its funny you sya that tho bc i was thinking while watching this how much it reminded me of what i wanted from a modern Nightmare on Elm Street movie. The Reboot a few years back was terrible other than the visuals, molestation undertones, and JEH as Freddy. Funny enough the movie theater is playing NOES 5 in this if you look close lol

IronGenesis - 9/18/2017, 1:39 PM

@Ha1frican - it is! And you can even seen I think they used the wrong poster. I think they have the dream master poster.

And also, it had Batman up there but I thought Batman came out in 89 not 88

BassMan - 9/21/2017, 9:01 PM

@IronGenesis - Maybe, every adult in town sans the librarian is shown to be a little off. Bill's dad, creepy store clerk, Bev's dad, Eddie's mom, Mike's dad, passerby's watching Ben get beat up, women noticing blood but doing nothing, even the cop did nothing but stare at Bowers after the initial confrontation. But it was directly referenced and had exposition in the original, I'll give you that. From rumors of Adult Mike being a junkie, maybe staying in town warps your mind or something and they will address it more in the sequel.

theFUZZ008 - 9/18/2017, 8:01 AM

Yeah, I watched the LowRes Wünderbred videos, too.

Kman - 9/18/2017, 8:09 AM

Kinda glad a lot of these didn't happen...

noahthegrand - 9/18/2017, 8:10 AM

I really want to see those origin scenes

Ha1frican - 9/18/2017, 12:46 PM

@noahthegrand - The only thing i wanted more of was a bit more of those prior tragedies in the town and how they connected to Pennywise. I would liked to have seen why he sticks with the clown so much too as he clearly started using that in the late 1800's to early 19002 as his costume would suggest

SuperCat - 9/18/2017, 8:11 AM

TheBigkahuna - 9/18/2017, 8:12 AM

Awesome movie. going back friday

IndominusTitan - 9/18/2017, 8:24 AM

I need this movie on blu ray.

MUTO123 - 9/18/2017, 8:27 AM

Glad these ideas didn't make it into the movie (also glad they changed the characters back to how they were in the book and that they got rid of the sheep rape).

Kman - 9/18/2017, 8:32 AM

@MUTO123 - there are a lot of scenes they got rid of that we're really weird in the book. lol

Lostcause - 9/18/2017, 8:29 AM

Great film! Sophia Lillis,Finn Wolfhard, Jack Dylan Grazer, and Bill Skarsgård did a great job. I'll see it again this week.

baldowl - 9/18/2017, 8:37 AM

I don't feel like I really needed to know any of that, but I do now anyway.

gmoney0505 - 9/18/2017, 8:46 AM

Glad these got removed. I just found out about the child stuff a couple months ago and i couldn't believe they let King publish that book.

This movie was incredible. Skarsgard really provided us with a performance of a lifetime in that role. Hope he wins many awards.

1 2

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SPOILERS: 5 Shocking (And Terrifying) Details You Need To Know About Cary Fukunaga's Scrapped IT Screenplay

IT has been a box office smash but Cary Fukunaga's (True Detective) was once working on a version which would have been vastly different. Here's all the details we know from the leaked screenplay...

5. It Would Have Featured An Origin Story For Pennywise

4. It Still Wouldn't Have Featured THAT Scene

3. Flashbacks Would Have Shown Pennywise's Murderous Past

2. A Different Conclusion And Pennywise's True Form

1. Some Seriously F***ed Up Parents

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