Stephen King says why he thinks IT was such a success

December 29th 2017, 4:17pm

Last Updated on July 21, 2021

Earlier this week we brought you author Stephen King’s thoughts on why THE DARK TOWER film bombed. And today we have some quotes from the man himself about why another of his films succeeded this past year.

The film in question today is, duh, Andres Mucheitti’s IT, which King seems to think was a massive hit because of a mixture of nostalgia and a little show called STRANGER THINGS paving the way.

Stephen King on why IT was such a success:

I think one of the things that really happened was that 1990 miniseries. A whole generation of kids between the ages of 8 and 14 were scared shitless by Tim Curry and when the new one came out it was a chance to revisit that particular experience in their childhood. Then there was this weird viral bulge in stories about creepy clowns. That was in the press all over the place. So it was a number of different things. It was the right movie at the right time.

He continues:

I think that Stranger Things might’ve had something to do with it, but that’s kind of an incestuous thing because so much of Stranger Things reminds me of stuff that I’ve written. But I think that played a part. Obviously, the idea of a bunch of kids fighting a supernatural terror just sort of appealed to people, and they saw a chance to root for the good guys, which doesn’t always happen in horror movies.

Why do you think IT was so successful? Do you think it had anything to do with STRANGER THINGS? Let us know what you think by hitting us up in the new comments section below or on social media!

Blu-ray & DVD Special Features:

Pennywise Lives! – Discover how Bill Skarsgård prepared to portray the primordial creature known as Pennywise the Dancing Clown

The Losers’ Club – Get up close and personal with the teenage stars of “IT” as they bond together during the production,

Author of Fear – Stephen King reveals the roots of his best-selling novel, the nature of childhood fear and how he created his most famous monster, Pennywise

Deleted Scenes – Eleven deleted or extended scenes from the film

IT synopsis:

A group of young kids faces their biggest fears when they seek answers to the disappearance of children in their hometown of Derry, Maine. They square off against an evil clown named Pennywise, whose history of murder and violence dates back for centuries.

IT is directed by Andrés Muschietti from a script by Chase Palmer & Cary Joji Fukunaga and Gray Dauberman, based on the novel by Stephen King.

The film stars Jaeden Lieberher, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Wyatt Oleff, Jack Dylan Grazer, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Chosen Jacobs, Nicholas Hamilton, Owen Teague, Javier Botet, Steven Williams, and Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise the Dancing Clown.

STEPHEN KING’S IT hits Blu-ray January 9, 2018!