For all the film-going sadists out there, grab your makeup – an American cinema chain is holding ‘clown-only’ screenings of IT: Chapter Two.
If you’re immune to the crippling creepiness of clowns, you can seek out Alamo Drafthouse’s special screenings on the film’s opening weekend in September.
The chain had two theatres hosting clown-specific screenings for the first IT in 2017; this time, they have expanded to 18 locations.
The instructions, according to Alamo Drafthouse’s website, are:
We’re celebrating the second chapter of Stephen King’s magnum opus with a nightmare-fuelling Clown-only screening of IT: Chapter Two. Please come dressed as a clown – the wig, the makeup, the oversized pants and suspenders, the blood-curdling makeup – and sit through this coulrophobia-inducing fright fest with a theater full of fellow… clowns. Good luck. [Insert maniacal clown laugh here.] You’re gonna need it, floaters.
To be clear: you don’t need to dress up specifically like Pennywise (the antagonist of IT). As long as you look like a clown, whether it be the Joker, or Krusty, or even McDonald’s own Ronald, you’ll be welcome. There’s no word yet on whether similar events will be held in the UK.
Check out the trailer for IT: Chapter Two here:
Based on Stephen King’s iconic (and bloody huge) novel, the horror sequel follows on from 2017’s IT, continuing the story of the Loser’s Club’s fight against Pennywise the Clown 27 years after the terrifying events of their childhood.
Andy Muschietti, the director of both films, has gathered a star-studded cast: James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain and Bill Hader are the big hitters, alongside Bill Skarsgård as the petrifying clown at the centre of it all.
The first film was a smash-hit at the box office, grossing just over $700 million worldwide. The sequel is expected to be bigger, scarier and more violent.
James McAvoy, who spoke to UNILAD on set in Toronto, said they had a high-bar to hit after the horror of the first outing.
McAvoy explained:
We can be a bit more full-on because we’re dealing with a bunch of adults rather than a bunch of kids. Mind you, it’s not like the last one was a PG, so you’ve got a pretty high bar to hit.
Luckily we’ve got a director who wants to outdo himself, not just in terms of thrills and chills but also in terms of the quality and that’s the most important thing if you up the quality the other stuff will come.
I don’t think the aim for him is to scare people more or be more horrific I think is the aim for him is to make an even better movie.
As someone who had to sit next to someone dressed up as Pennywise at a midnight screening of IT in 2017, the idea of a clown-only screening seems both completely wild and terrific. The second chapter looks like a horrific, traumatic, fantastic trip to the cinema.
Remember, ‘you’ll float too’.
IT: Chapter Two is released in UK cinemas on September 6, 2019.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.