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How Steven Spielberg's Jaws is inspiring Pennywise in HBO's It prequel TV series
With Pennywise, the Welcome to Derry producers believe less is more, so they’ll be keeping the carnivorous clown offscreen for most of the early episodes
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When HBO began developing their It prequel, Welcome to Derry, the It movies weren’t the only films they looked to for inspiration. The writers and producers were inspired by another film about a carnivorous creature that preyed on humans – Jaws.
Jaws was notable for how little the shark was seen. Viewers and critics agree that the shark’s limited screentime made him scarier, as they never got a good look at him, and never knew when he was coming. While some of this was intentional, the truth is it’s because Steven Spielberg’s shark animatronic wasn’t convincing, forcing him to minimize his screentime.
HBO doesn’t have that same problem with Pennywise, but they’re still going with the idea of keeping him in the shadows to build suspense.
“When you least expect it, there he is,” Welcome to Derry producer Andy Muschietti says during a panel at New York Comic Con.
“[Pennywise] is our shark, and we believe wholeheartedly that we can’t allow the audience to get comfortable with him. We had to hide the ball,” Welcome to Derry producer Barbara Muschietti says.
“There is an intention to delay his appearance in Pennywise form,” Andy Muschietti says. “Create this anticipation, this buildup, this suspense, and I think people will not know, part of his impactability is when the clown is going to show up. We can’t tell you when, but he will, and I think it’s an interesting game, because it’s a shapeshifter incarnation.”
It: Welcome to Derry premieres October 26 on HBO.
Another Pennywise feeding cycle is upon us as HBO drops new episodes of IT: Welcome to Derry every week. Make sure you're prepared for the horror with:
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