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It remake lands 15 rating for 'strong horror'

Pennywise lurks beneath the street in 'It' (WB)
Pennywise lurks beneath the street in ‘It’ (WB)

Warner Bros.’ adaptation of Stephen King’s best-selling horror novel ‘It’ has been given a UK 15 rating by the British Board of Film Classification (the BBFC).

The finished version of the film – in cinemas 8 September – was passed uncut by the censors with justification for the 15-rating being “strong horror, violence, language”.

Yeah, no s***, Sherlock.

The notice issued by the BBFC also confirms the film will have a run time of 135 minutes.

A UK 15 rating suggests the film will get an R-rating in America, bringing it into line with other successful Warner Bros. horror franchises ‘The Conjuring’ and ‘Annabelle’.

Any fears that ‘It’, which terrified audiences in 1990 with Tim Curry’s Pennywise, would be watered down for modern audiences, appear to have been unfounded. It’s worth noting too that there’s also no mention of any sexual content by the BBFC, which means the novel’s ickiest moment seems to have been completely excised from the movie version, and with good reason.

A new trailer for ‘It’, from ‘Mama’ director Andrés Muschietti, arrived last week to huge acclaim online. Featuring much more of Bill Skarsgård’s sinister performance as Pennywise the evil clown, the first full trailer racked up millions of views within hours, and can be watched below.


Like the ropey 1990 made-for-TV adaptation, ‘It’ tells the story of a gang of disaffected tweens who are terrorised one summer by the evil presence of Pennywise in their fictional home town of Derry.

Here’s the official synopsis: “When children begin to disappear in the town of Derry, Maine, a group of young kids are faced with their biggest fears when they square off against an evil clown named Pennywise, whose history of murder and violence dates back for centuries.”

‘It’ arrives in UK cinemas 8 September.

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