In an odd bit of creative alchemy, the new teaser trailer for the upcoming adaptation of Stephen King’s novel “It” combines the current wave of 1980s horror nostalgia with the recent spate of encounters with creepy clowns in public. Directed by Argentine filmmaker Andrés Muschietti, the film is due to be released Sept. 8.

In the trailer, a little boy makes a paper boat and sends it floating along a rapidly running drainage ditch during a rainstorm. When the boat, and the boy, reach the drain, there he is. The clown. From there the trailer features a group of kids, who call themselves the Losers’ Club, trying to find the now-missing boy and do battle with the increasingly nervous-making events, which includes an out-of-control slide carousel.

The cast includes Jaeden Lieberher from “Midnight Special” and Finn Wolfhard from “Stranger Things” alongside Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer and Nicholas Hamilton. The main villain, known as Pennywise the Dancing Clown, is played by the young actor Bill Skarsgård. In the 1990 TV miniseries adaptation of King’s novel, the part was played by Tim Curry.

Keeping the knack for the creepy and unsettling within the family, King also just released a cover image for his upcoming novel, “Sleeping Beauties,” co-written with his son, Owen King.


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The new book is coming early this fall. Collaborating with Owen was exciting. Constant Reader, this one is going to keep you wide awake. pic.twitter.com/Pwj5fNlW1X — Stephen King (@StephenKing) March 29, 2017

Mark.Olsen@latimes.com

Twitter: @IndieFocus


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