‘It’ Movie Cut This Disturbing Scene From Stephen King’s Novel

Stephen King’s ‘It’ has been hailed as the “Moby-Dick of horror novels,” a comparison drawn by the Los Angeles Herald Examiner. The novel spans 1,153 pages, weaving a complex tale of the town of Derry, its eerie history, and the brave group of friends known as the Losers’ Club who battle the shape-shifting entity Pennywise, the Dancing Clown. 

Given its length and depth, it’s no surprise that it took King around four years to complete. The most recent film adaptation, directed by Andy Muschietti and featuring Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise, premiered in 2017, 27 years after the original TV miniseries. Fans noticed this gap as an eerie coincidence, as Pennywise returns to terrorize Derry every 27 years in the book.

Image Courtesy: Collider

As with most adaptations, certain scenes from the book didn’t make it into the movie, and one, in particular, was notably omitted due to its shocking nature. Near the novel’s end, after defeating Pennywise, the six male members of the Losers’ Club engage in a sexual act with Beverly, the group’s only female member, in Derry’s underground sewer tunnels. The scene, instigated by Beverly, is meant to symbolize their transition from childhood to adulthood, yet it is so disturbing that even readers often prefer to skip over it.

This scene, laden with heavy implications and graphic detail, would have been impossible to portray on screen without causing a significant public outcry. 

Image Courtesy: Collider

While King’s novel navigates the complexity of this act with a focus on the love and trust between the characters, translating it to film would have been a far more jarring and controversial experience. In retrospect, the decision to leave it out of the movie was a wise one, as it allowed the film to focus on the core horror elements without crossing a line that would have been too much for audiences to handle.

–Farheen Ali