Muschietti is horror’s new ‘It’ boy

Many of us watched the 1990 made-for-TV-movie adaptation of Stephen King's novel "It." As a result, we're curious about — if not thrilled at — the remake that opens on Friday.

Actually, according to Bill Skarsgard, the actor who plays King's famous villain — the clown Pennywise — the Andres Muschietti-directed release is not so much a remake as a "re-adaptation of Stephen King's book."

Which means that Skarsgard was free to find his own interpretation of the character, created for the screen by Tim Curry, as he explains in a July article in the online magazine bloody-disgusting.com.

“I worked really hard to create my own interpretation of the Stephen King character,” Skarsgard said. “Tim Curry’s performance is understandably iconic, still, but the whole [miniseries], to me, at least, felt like something that might be worth a remake of, or rather, a re-adaptation, is kind of how I want to see the film."

As a feel for what Muschietti is capable of, check out the 2008 short that he made titled "Mama," which he later adapted into a 2013 feature. It's introduced by Mexican director Guillermo Del Torres.

Note: The short doesn't use any clowns. But it's still pretty scary.