<Li> Bill Skarsgård as It / Pennywise the Dancing Clown: An ancient, trans - dimensional evil that awakens every twenty - seven years . Will Poulter was previously cast in the role but was forced to drop out due to scheduling conflicts, with Poulter stating, "I was when Mr. Fukunaga was directing, but the circumstances at New Line are such that a new director's attached now ." Poulter continued, "I think, with all due respect to him of course, I was selected by Cary and subscribed to Cary's vision for the movie, and so I haven't had a chance to connect with that (new) director ." Mark Rylance, Ben Mendelsohn, Kirk Acevedo, Richard Armitage, Hugo Weaving, and Tilda Swinton were considered for the role, with Mendelsohn passing on the project, as New Line wanted him to take a sizable pay cut . On June 3, 2016, The Independent officially reported, after final negotiations took place, that Muschietti had chosen actor Bill Skarsgård to portray the character . On portraying Pennywise, Skarsgård stated, "It's such an extreme character . Inhumane, It's beyond even a sociopath because he's not even human . He's not even a clown . I'm playing just one of the beings It creates ." Skarsgård described the character further, saying, "It truly enjoys the shape of the clown Pennywise, and enjoys the game and the hunt ." He also commented, "What's funny to this evil entity might not be funny to everyone else . But he thinks it's funny ." On Pennywise's design, Skarsgård stated, "It's important that we do something fresh and original for this one . It's purposely not going toward that weird, greasy look ." He also commented on being compared to Tim Curry, stating that, "(Curry)'s performance was truly great, but it's important for me to do something different because of that . I'll never be able to make a Tim Curry performance as good as Tim Curry ." Skarsgård also elaborated on his age, stating, "There's a childishness to the character, because he's so closely linked to the kids . The clown is the manifestation of children's imaginations, so there's something child - like about that ." Producer Dan Lin spoke of Skarsgård's physical attributes: "His build is really interesting . He's really tall and lanky, and feels a little clown like in his movement . When he came in--we had a lot of different actors read, and when he came in he had a different spin on the character that got us really excited ." Lin concluded by contrasting the character with that of Heath Ledger's Joker, "You've had (Ledger) doing almost a clown joker, you've seen obviously Tim Curry as a clown . We wanted someone who created a Pennywise character that would stand on its own and Bill came in and created this character that frankly freaked us out ." Muschietti spoke of Skarsgård's Pennywise as one not to lurk in the shadows, to which he remarked, "Pennywise shows up, he's front and center, and he does his show . He has an act...So it's weird all the time, and every little thing implies a further threat ." Muschietti also spoke of wanting to make the sense of dread that grows in Derry part of the dread of Pennywise, to which he stated, "He's not just a character that can shape - shift, his influence is all around . The anticipation of him is almost scarier than the actual Pennywise scares ." On selecting Skarsgård to portray Pennywise, Muschietti wanted to stay true to the essence of the character, and Skarsgård caught his attention, "The character has a childish and sweet demeanor, but there's something very off about him . Bill has that balance in him . He can be sweet and cute, but he can be pretty disturbing ." </Li> <Li> Jeremy Ray Taylor as Ben Hanscom: Hanscom is the new kid at school and consequently does not have any friends . He likes reading and researching so he spends a lot of time in the library . He is also very overweight, which earns his place in the Losers' Club, but like all of the Losers, there are underlying facets that define him far more than superficial appearances . On the character of Hanscom, Muschietti spoke of him knowing a situation of despair, "...Ben is bullied at school ." </Li> <Li> Sophia Lillis as Beverly Marsh: The only female member of the Losers' Club, she is bullied at school, particularly over false rumors that she is promiscuous . Her home life is also dismal, as she is being abused physically and sexually by her father . On the character of Marsh, Muschietti spoke of her knowing a situation of despair, "Beverly's case is of course the worst, because it's about sexual abuse on a minor ." In an interview with Rolling Stone, Lillis spoke of Muschietti not wanting her and her co-stars to spend too much time with Skarsgård: "We actually weren't allowed to see him until our scenes, because we wanted the horror to be real ." On Skarsgård's appearance as Pennywise, she recalled, "Everyone had different reactions, but all of us were like,' Wow, what did we get ourselves into?' One look at him, and...you know, he's a really scary clown that wants to kill us . I was a little bit shocked ." </Li> <Li> Finn Wolfhard as Richie Tozier: The bespectacled best friend of Bill Denbrough, whose loud mouth and foul language often get him into trouble . Wolfhard was the only actor cast in both this and Fukunaga's version . As for the character of Tozier, Muschietti spoke of him knowing a situation of despair, "We don't know much about Richie's personality, because he's the big mouth of the group . But we suppose he's also neglected at home, and he's the clown of the band because he needs attention ." </Li>

How long did it take to film the new it movie