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‘It’: Here’s Who’s Testing For the Role of Pennywise! (Exclusive)
Update: News just broke that “Hemlock Grove’s” Bill Skarsgard is in final negotiations for the role! Details can be found here.
One of the biggest issues with remaking A Nightmare On Elm Street is that nobody can replace Robert Englund in the role of Freddy Krueger. It’s easier for franchises like Friday the 13th or Halloween because, Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers, respectively, are silent killers who don a mask.
This is where New Line Cinema’s re-adaptation of Stephen King’s It has a small conundrum; nobody will be able to replace Tim Curry as the malevolent clown, Pennywise.
The biggest difference between Freddy and Pennywise, though, is that the latter isn’t nearly as notable or pop culture penetrating as the Dream Demon.
I don’t think any of us are worried that we’re going to see a new Pennywise. In fact, I’m pretty stoked that New Line is attempting a feature version of this terrifying King story that taps into the vein of Stand By Me.
It’s been longstanding that Will Poulter had been cast as Pennywise when Cary Fukunaga was attached to direct.
Reports surfaced in April that Poulter has since dropped out, due to scheduling conflicts, while our own sources told us that he’s still in contention as Mama director Andy Muschietti will hold his own auditions.
We’ve learned that there’s not only been auditions, but that various actors have been part of make-up tests.
One of the most exciting names in contention is Kirk Acevedo, we can exclusively report.
While many of you may know Acevedo from his roles in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, pictured above, “Band of Brothers,” “Fringe,” and “12 Monkeys,” I became a massive fan watching him on HBO’s prison series, “Oz”.
It should be clear that a handful of actors are being tested. Still, I personally think Acevedo is as inspired of a choice as Poulter, whose exit I’m still mourning.
Stephen King’s It will rise from the sewers on September 8, 2017.
What do you guys think?
Hmmm…
Interesting?! https://t.co/r3XYUuUK0d— kirk acevedo (@kirkacevedo) June 2, 2016
Sam Neill, the New Zealand actor best known for his role in 1993’s Jurassic Park, has passed away this week at 78 years old. In a statement shared on Neill’s Instagram page this morning, the actor’s family said that his passing was “sudden and unexpected.”
Neill had been diagnosed with a rare blood cancer in 2022, but stated the following year that he was in remission. The family notes that he “remained cancer free” at the time of his passing.
The family statement reads, “It is with immense sadness that the whānau of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia. Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life. The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free.
“They would like to express their deepest gratitude to the staff at St Vincent’s Private Hospital for their incredible care. More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss.”
In addition to his iconic role as Dr. Alan Grant in the original Jurassic Park and the sequels Jurassic Park III and Jurassic World: Dominion, Sam Neill left an indelible mark on the horror genre with memorable roles in Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession, The Omen: The Final Conflict, John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness, and sci-fi horror favorite Event Horizon.
Sam Neill’s vast resume in film and television began in the early 1970s and also includes the films Sleeping Dogs, Enigma, The Good Wife, A Cry in the Dark, Dead Calm, The Hunt for Red October, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Hostage, The Jungle Book, Snow White: A Tale of Terror, The Horse Whisperer, Bicentennial Man, Daybreakers, Escape Plan, and Thor: Ragnarok.
Sam Neill is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.
Steven Spielberg said in a statement to Variety, “I owe a debt of gratitude to Roger Donaldson, Gilliam Armstrong, Graham Baker and Phillip Noyce for casting Sam Neill in the roles in which he was so brilliant that brought him to my attention and led to his playing Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park. Sam was exceptionally collaborative. It was a stretch for him to play a character who acted as though children were messy and smelly because this was the opposite of the loving father he was to his children. I adored making all the Jurassic movies with him.”
Spielberg adds, “Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our Jurassic family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world.”
Sam Neill in ‘Event Horizon’
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