Over three decades ago, Stephen King's ancient evil entity was manifested from the pages of his iconic 1986 horror novel It. Only four years after the novel's release, ABC aired a two-part television miniseries that would shake horror fans to their cores for generations. Pennywise the dancing clown instantly became a haunted household name, thanks to the vision of the cast and crew of IT. Now, as Pennywise is wont to do, the shape-shifting killer clown has returned once again in a documentary titled Pennywise: The Story of IT which details the making of the miniseries, and BloodyDisgusting has the trailer.
Opening on gloomy shots of rain falling through trees, an expanse of field, and an old bridge, the trailer takes fans back to the doomed haunts of Derry, Maine, King's fictional town of horrors. The shots are overlaid with the voices of people directing the cast members before calling out, "Action!" Over a shot of the title page for the screenplay. Richard Thomas, who famously portrayed It's main protagonist Bill Denbrough, can be heard discussing the lasting impact the miniseries has had on people since the '90s. Concept images transform into a photo of the kids who brought King's characters to life, as contributors to the documentary explain the way Pennywise shook pop culture and became a deep-seated part of fans' psyches.
The trailer also discusses the controversy of airing something so sinister on television at the time, saying, "Advertisers were very nervous, this was a children-in-jeopardy story... we were breaking new grounds." Fans also even get a glimpse of the exclusive images and recordings of Tim Curry as Pennywise that the documentary offers.
In the earlier days of televised horror, IT director Tommy Lee Wallace was paving the way for shows like American Horror Story and Stranger Things. Pennywise: The Story of IT provides an in-depth look at the process it took to bring King's visceral story to television, and how doing so changed the game for the genre. Co-directed by long-time horror fans and documentarians, John Campopiano (Unearthed and Untold: The Path to Pet Sematary) and Christopher Griffiths (Leviathan: The Story of Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II), the documentary provides fans exclusive interviews with the original cast and crew and "boasts a wealth of archival material and never-before-seen footage." It first premiered at Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival in Spain before premiering at Panic Fest in the US just this year, though the documentary has been "several years in the making." The release comes in the wake of a Pennywise renaissance after the two-part remake of It directed by Andy Muschietti, and starring Bill Skarsgård.
The documentary is written by co-director Campopiano and producer, Gary Smart, with executive producers Fuzz on the Lens Productions' Brady William Gorman and Laurance Gornall. The documentary will feature interviews with Wallace and Thomas, as well as special effects artist Bart Mixon, Seth Green (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Emily Perkins (Ginger Snaps), Tim Reid (Sister, Sister), and the man, the myth, the legend himself – Curry.
Pennywise: The Story of IT will be released in select theaters beginning on July 8 before being released for streaming, including platforms like Amazon Prime, Apple, and BloodyDisgusting's streaming service Screambox on July 26. Watch the trailer below: