IT Screenwriter Was Terrified Stephen King Would Dislike It

Andy Muschietti’s new adaptation of Stephen King’s iconic horror novel IT is finally out in theaters today, ensuring that (coulrophobic) moviegoers the world over lose plenty of sleep this weekend. But they won’t be the only ones lying awake at night because of IT—as he revealed in an interview with THR today, screenwriter Gary Dauberman was “haunted” by the thought that King wouldn’t like the new film.

While writing IT, Dauberman imagined which fear of his Pennywise the clown (Bill Skarsgard) would use against him, as he does in the story, and that fear turned out to be King’s disapproval. ”[Pennywise] would take the form of Stephen King and a look of disappointment on his face. That’s the thing that haunted me through this process,” Dauberman told THR. ”[King] is part of the reason I am who I am, and I have his books all over my house and all of that stuff … And finally to hear how much he enjoyed the movie, it felt like I was holding my breath the last year or so and I could finally exhale.” King has indeed voiced his support for the film, calling it “fabulous” and even going so far as putting a red balloon in the window of his home to get into the IT spirit. And yesterday, King tweeted:

Come on out to the movies tonight.
You’ll float.

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) September 7, 2017

Between King’s approval and IT’s already record-breaking success, it seems Dauberman, who shares writing credit for the film with Chase Palmer and Cary Fukunaga, can finally rest easy.

Read our IT review here, and once you’re through, float on over to our new ranking of every Stephen King film adaptation.