A flashback to Pennywise's origins, a floating dream sequence, and graphic scenes from the
original script are just some of the things that were cut from the final version of IT:
Chapter One.
Yippee-ki-yay movie lovers, it's Jan here and today I'm delving into some of the horrifying
scenes, script changes, and rejected concepts we never got to see in the new IT movie.
And I'll also be explaining how we can expect to see a number of these deleted storylines
appear in the movie's sequel.
My Pennywise Funko Pop giveaway is also running on this video.
So, for a chance to win, make sure you subscribe to my channel and leave a comment below with
your thoughts about the movie or any of the cut scenes.
Spoiler warning: I'm going to discuss scenes from the movie and speculate on the sequel,
so take care if you haven't seen IT yet.
Given Henry Bowers' repeated, unhinged acts of cruelty in the film, it's safe to say most
of the audience will have been glad to see him get his/some sort of comeuppance.
However, there were a couple of deleted scenes that director Andy Muschietti revealed in
an interview with Vulture that he says would have brought "some humanity to Henry."
The director explained that the scenes depicted "the conflict [Henry] has at home with his
father, how and why Henry is a monster", the main reason being that he was physically abused
by his dad.
This additional backstory for Henry would have been in keeping with the character's
abusive father in Stephen King's novel.
But, although Muschietti wanted to include Henry's backstory in the film, he found that
in test screenings, people didn't react as he expected and didn't seem interested in
the background to the bully's sadistic behaviour, so he decided to cut the scenes from the final
film.
Still, while the scenes were deleted that made clear Henry's abuse by his father behind
closed doors, one scene which hints at his father's behaviour did make it into the final
movie, and that's the scene where Henry shoots his dad's gun.
Two other scenes that the director wanted to include in the shoot ended up being cut
from filming as they needed more CGI and the movie was on a tight budget of around 35 million
dollars.
The first scene given the chop was a flashback that showed the first time when the evil entity
It came into contact with human beings.
The scene Muschietti could be referencing appears in some of the original scripts for
the movie and shows a young mother in 17th-century Derry making a deal with Pennywise, who tells
her that unless she gives him her baby, he'll kill everyone.
She strikes the deal and so the cycle of IT in Derry, Maine begins.
In the new movie, we do see Ben and the Losers' Club looking at photos and articles about
Old Derry, which indicate that IT has been around a long time, but we still don't know
exactly where the malevolent creature actually came from or any real details about IT's background.
Muschietti has said that in the sequel, he wants the character of Mike to play a more
"active" part in discovering the answer to defeating Pennywise.
An idea he's looking at is for Mike to become addicted to a substance which then opens up
his mind and allows him to see Pennywise in the Macroverse.
This would be a spin on the chapter in King's novel where the Losers' Club build a Native-American
smokehole in the hopes that they'll have a vision that will uncover the truth about IT,
which is what happens to Mike and Richie who end up having hallucinations that reveal the
origins of IT.
The second scene that was cut from filming was a dream sequence that took place in Derry.
Basically, Bill is leaning on a bridge, spitting into the stream below, when out of nowhere
he spots a balloon reflected in the water.
At that point, he looks up and sees that there's a whole load of balloons above him, and then
he notices that there are also body parts; and as the shot pulls out wider, he sees there
are actually dozens of dead kids just floating in the air.
Given that Muschietti has talked about this floating bodies scene and Pennywise's origin
scene as being 'postponed', we might well see both of them in the sequel.
To be honest, though, I'm not sorry that Bill's dream-like scene of floating bodies ended
up being cancelled in the first movie as I think that seeing that would have taken away
from the impact of the last part of the film where we finally see Pennywise's subterranean
lair and the many dead bodies floating around the hoard of toys and belongings from his
various victims.
Another casualty of keeping the movie on budget was a scene featuring the Black Spot, which
in King's novel was a club mainly frequented by black customers.
An early script included a flashback to the club which was burned down by racists during
one of Pennywise's recurring reigns of terror.
But in the final movie, the Black Spot is merely mentioned in passing.
Still, although it was cut from the first movie, according to producer Barbara Muschietti,
their current plan is to open the sequel with a sequence dealing with events at the Black
Spot.
We'll have to wait a while to see if that's what happens, but in the meantime, what I
do think is interesting in this movie is the way the filmmakers have chosen to change Mike's
backstory from the novel.
In the film, Mike's parents died in a house fire, and the encounter he experiences with
Pennywise begins with a fire and hands desperately reaching around a chained door, trying to
get free.
So, I'm thinking that in the sequel, the filmmakers may connect in some way the death of Mike's
parents with the tragedy at the Black Spot, which in the novel was witnessed by Mike's
father.
Mike first encounters Pennywise when he goes to make a delivery to a butcher's shop in
Derry and, after the delivery door bursts open, he sees the clown's evil yellow eyes
from behind a plastic curtain in the meat storage area.
And there's some behind-the-scenes footage of an alternate or extended scene where Pennywise
is shown thrashing around and feasting on what looks like a body behind the plastic
screen.
Check out the deleted moment here.
Now, this scene of Pennywise devouring a body at the butcher's would perhaps have added
more shock value to Mike's first encounter with IT, though you could argue that just
seeing him standing there in the final film is actually more creepy.
But I think the reason this moment may have been cut is that if you notice to the right
of Pennywise, there's a yellow figure which gives the impression it might be Georgie hanging
in his yellow raincoat.
In the final film, Georgie has gone missing but no body has been found, so Bill continues
to believe his little brother could still be alive, which is a major motivation for
him throughout the movie.
So, by deleting this extra moment of Pennywise at the butcher's, it helps the film preserve
that air of mystery around Georgie's disappearance.
I've already talked about The Black Spot scene which was in an early script but ended up
being cut.
Well, that screenplay was actually written by Cary Fukunaga and Chase Palmer.
In fact, Fukunaga was also the film's original director before he quit the project in 2015
over creative differences with the studio, which led to the Muschietti siblings taking
over as director and producer of the final movie.
Palmer and Fukunaga still retain the first two screenplay credits, and the final movie
is still significantly based on their script, however, the story does appear to have changed
somewhat in tone and some of the more graphic scenes from their script have either been
toned down or cut from the final film.
One example of the more shocking tone that Fukunaga was going for was Stan's first scene
at the synagogue.
In the final film, Stan has an unsettling encounter with IT in the form of strange woman
from a painting.
However, in Fukunaga's script, Stan excuses himself from the Rabbi as he needs to go to
the toilet, and when he can't find the bathroom, he decides to go inside the Mikveh, a place
for ritual cleansing used, for example, by women after their period.
As he's about to pee in the pool, a naked woman rises out of the water and starts to
tempt him while she touches herself.
However, she's actually a rotting, bleeding corpse covered in sores and, as she emerges
from the water, she says to Stan, "Come float with me".
Also, in the final movie, there's a scene where Bev's father appears to be about to
sexually assault his daughter, something it's implied he's done in the past.
But in Fukunaga's screenplay, there's little room left for doubt.
For example, in his script, Bev's father throws her into his bedroom; demands to know whether
she's still a virgin and orders her to undress; and then begins to talk in a Pennywise voice,
"You'll like it, Bevvie.
Be like you're floating."
There are also reports of other graphic content in Fukunaga's script involving young characters
such as the bully Henry committing bestiality with a sheep, however, this doesn't appear
in the scripts that emerged after the first trailer was released, so it's unclear whether
the reports are accurate.
After he quit the project, Fukunaga said in an interview with Variety that New Line Cinema
were watering down the movie to make it more conventional and inoffensive, which he said
was impossible to do with a Stephen King novel.
As for the Muschietti siblings, they've said that they weren't prevented from pursuing
adult themes in the movie, however, they added that they had personal limits for how far
they wanted to push some scenes or ideas.
For instance, in an interview with Mad Movies magazine, they said they cut a scene of a
kid being thrown into the toilet after having his back broken, because they felt it was
"really too much" to portray visually.
Speaking of things that are way "too much", that seems to be the general consensus of
the filmmakers on that controversial WTF scene from King's original novel which features
a young Bev having sex with each of the other young Losers in turn.
Both the Muschiettis and Fukunaga decided to steer clear of portraying this moment which
happens in the book after the Losers have defeated IT but are lost trying to find their
way out of the sewers.
King has defended the scene saying that he "wasn't really thinking of the sexual aspect
of it" and that "the book dealt with childhood and adulthood" and that the "sexual act connected"
the two.
The Muschetti siblings have explained they didn't think the scene was necessary for the
story and it wouldn't have worked on screen, and they also added that the blood oath the
Losers make at the end is a much more meaningful way to show how the group have united and
matured enough to conquer their fears and IT.
In his script, Fukunaga actually did a totally non-sexual version of the scene which showed
Bev stopping the Losers from bickering and forcing them to focus by simply holding each
of their faces in her hands, one-by-one.
There isn't an end-credits scene in IT, but there is a little maniacal laugh by Pennywise
at the very end of the credits, teasing that IT is still out there and will be back in
Chapter 2.
However, there were rumours of a short scene involving Jessica Chastain as the older Bev,
who 27 years later, receives a message that IT has returned.
Although producer Barbara Muschietti says this didn't happen, she admits they'd love
Jessica Chastain to play the older Bev in the sequel, especially given their experience
working with her on their debut feature, Mama, and the fact that Chastain looks similar to
Sophia Lillis who plays young Bev.
Another actress many would like to see play the adult Bev is Amy Adams, and I thought
there was a really interesting nod to that possibility in the movie when Bev puts on
the pharmacist's glasses and he tells her she looks a lot like Lois Lane, who of course
has been played on the big screen most recently by Amy Adams.
So, what did you think of IT and is there anything cut or deleted that you wish had
been in the movie?
And what do you want to see happen in the sequel?
Let me know in the comments below and be sure to subscribe to my channel as well for a chance
to win a Pennywise Funko Pop.
I'll announce the winner on an upcoming video, and just before you float off, check out my
freaky facts and secrets about the making of the new IT movie.
Tap the screen here for that or more of my movie deleted scenes videos.
Thanks for watching and see you next time.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!