New 'It' Movie Courting Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise the Clown

It's starting to feel real. The big-screen adaptation of Stephen King's 1986 horror tome has clawed its way through every level of development hell, but with a director and a Sept. 8, 2017 release date for the first of two parts, there's no longer room for doubt. 

Today the nightmare train picks up steam with Sweden's Bill Skarsgård entering the last round of negotiations to play Pennywise the Dancing Clown, says THR; Pennywise is one of the preferred incarnations of an ancient, shapeshifting evil residing in Derry, Maine.

The most common piece of skepticism the It remake gets hit with is the argument that Tim Curry's portrayal of Pennywise in 1990's ABC miniseries is unbeatable. Signing Skarsgård, who starred in Netflix's Hemlock Grove and appeared in The Divergent Series: Allegiant, is a sign that they're looking in a new direction. Skarsgård is just 25 years old; Curry was 44. English 23-year-old Will Poulter (The Revenant, We're the Millers) was previously attached. Skarsgård looks creepier, though.