'It' First Look: A New Close-Up of Pennywise's Creepy Costume

Entertainment Weekly gave us some terrifying new nightmare fodder this morning with the release of a new image of Pennywise the clown from It. The big-screen adaptation of the Stephen King novel — helmed by Mama director Andrés Muschietti — is due to hit theaters on Sept. 8, 2017 and will feature Bill Skarsgård (Hemlock Grove) as the child-murdering beast who often takes the sinister shape of the creepiest clown of all time.

EW debuted a close-up first look of Pennywise earlier last month, but this new photo gives us a full-length look at the new clown costume that comes courtesy of designer Janie Bryant (Deadwood, Mad Men). Rather than a traditional circus getup familiar from the 1990 TV miniseries, this one takes inspiration from Elizabethan, Renaissance, and Victorian eras to underline Pennywise’s infinite reign of terror. “The costume definitely incorporates all these otherworldly past lives, if you will,” Bryant told EW. “He is definitely a clown from a different time.” It also highlights the 25-year-old Skarsgård’s youth. “There is almost a doll-like quality to the costume,” Bryant said. “The pants being short, the high waistline of the jacket, and the fit of the costume is a very important element. It gives the character a child-like quality.”

Head over to EW to read more about the costume’s creepy inspirations.