"IT" (2017)

IT

Written by Chase Palmer & CJ Fukunaga

Based on the novel by Stephen King

Current revisions by Gary Dauberman

03.11.16

ii.

I'm every nightmare you ever had! I am your worst dream come true!

I'm everything you ever were afraid of!

OPEN ON:

Rain. Lashing a windowpane. A PIANO PLAYS somewhere off screen. Charles Ive’sSonata No 2 for Piano.

A little boy gazes out into the storm. Nervous, eager, sweet. GEORGIE DENBROUGH (7).

BILL (13), his brother, sits up in bed, surrounded by tissues and sheets of newspaper. Finishing creases on a PAPER BOAT.

He throws a Kleenex at Georgie.

Georgie. Hesitant. Scared, even. Resigned, he looks over at the WALKIE TALKIES laying on the shelf. Grabs one and goes.

TITLE CARD:

OCTOBER 1988

Georgie hurries downstairs, catching a glimpse of their mother SHARON DENBROUGH (30s) in the parlor playing piano, an earthy beauty transported to another world while she plays.

George’s stomach sinks as he comes face to face with THE CELLAR DOOR -- the only thing between George and the monster in the basement of his imagination.

Flinging the door open, George ventures his arm into the DARK VOID. He gropes around and finds the LIGHT SWITCH. Nothing. George snatches his arm back. The dark basement glares back at him, taunting.One... Two...

Walkie CRACKLES. Georgie jumps, startled.

Recovering, Georgie scrambles down the steps to THE CELLAR SHELF. Sifts through junk as fast as he can: a BROKEN FLASHLIGHT, TURTLE WAX, a bag of colored BALLOONS.

He grabs the BOX OF PARAFFIN near the back of the shelf, and hurries back up the stairs as we quickly track towards him, about to pounce. The door slams in our face.

Bill melts a chunk of paraffin with a match in a ceramic bowl, then dips his finger into the hot liquid and smears the wax along the sides of the boat.

They both grin, the cozy room full of cheerful brotherly love. George kisses Bill on the cheek, startling him.

He goes. Bill looks to the rain-lashed window, piano still playing. He’s suddenly filled with a sense of foreboding.

Holding his boat, George exits through the Front Door. Once more, the Walkie in his Slicker’s Pocket CRACKLES to life --

George stops and looks up at his Brother in the window looking down on him. Georgie gives a little wave.

A DEAD TRAFFIC LIGHT sways overhead, its black lenses gazing back at A BOY IN A YELLOW SLICKER AND RED GALOSHES.

George races down the street past dark houses after his PAPER BOAT, which sluices along a gutter swollen with rushing rainwater toward the intersection.

Angle on the dripping street signs: WITCHAM & JACKSON.

Rain taps on George’s hood sounding to his ears like rain on a shed roof, a comforting almost cozy sound. The buckles of his galoshes make a merry jingle as he goes.

The boat whistles past a blockade of sawhorses markedDEPT OF DERRY PUBLIC WORKS.Georgie ducks under one to keep up with his boat. Continues to run, head down until --

SMACK! He runs right into one of those sawhorses, cutting off his path. Georgie falls back while the Boat sails on.

George gets back to his feet. Chases after his paper boat, reaching it just as it surfs up to the drain, circles around twice, and is swallowed up. George looks ready to cry.

He peers into the storm drain, water falling into darkness. A dank hollow sound comes from within, the boat kicking in and out of the shadows.

George snakes his arm through the grate, reaching for the boat, his nose pressed against the curb. Just as he’s about to get it a face appears.

A GREASY WHITE FACE

George recoils from the storm drain, spooked. That’s when a VOICE, a sad voice, rises up.

George looks around, hoping someone else is around to hear this. It’s just him and the torrential rain. An OLD WOMAN watches from the window of a house behind the storm drain.

POV from the OLD WOMAN’s house. She turns her attention back to her cat, scraping out the wet innards of a can of tuna into a plate on the window sill. It meows.

BACK TO GEORGIE:

George looks back at the drain. Deep inside there, lingering just on the edge of the shadows...

IS A CLOWN

Not Bozo, or Ronald McDonald, but something more old world, freakish, like that of a 19th-century acrobat -- bald, lithe, almost child-like. PENNYWISE.

George glances at the paper boat, now kicking between Pennywise’s gnarly white feet. Pennywise picks up the boat.

A big grin swells across Pennywise’s face.

Pennywise’s face turns, a dawning awareness.

George shrugs.

George shrugs, still not convinced.

With his left hand Pennywise pretends to zip his own lip while offering his right through the sewer drain.

Pennywise holds Georgie’s boat out of the drain with his right hand. Georgie reaches out both hands, his left to receive his boat and his right for a handshake to signal their friendship. He gets ever closer when --

Pennywise lunges. Grabs Georgie’s hand. Jerks him down and toward the sewer, baring his mouthful of razor-like teeth.

CUT TO the OLD WOMAN’s POV again.

The cat devours its food, the old woman pleased with his appetite. She hears a scream and looks up, dropping the food and heading for her door as quickly as her old bones permit.

BACK ON GEORGIE

On the ground. Crawling away from the drain. A gnawed and bloody stump where his right arm used to be seconds ago.

But at least he’s getting awa--

YANK! Georgie is pulled back into the blackness of the Storm Drain. Screaming as loud as his little lungs can manage.

CUT TO the OLD WOMAN’S POV one last time.

As she totters from her building, staring in terrified wonderment at the drain across the street which has swallowed Georgie Denbrough whole --

TITLE CARD:

JUNE 1989

In the distance, settled on a crosscut of the Penobscot River and Kenduskaeg Stream rests the TOWN OF DERRY, MAINE.

TILT STRAIGHT DOWN to HANLON ABBATOIR

SEVERAL multi-acre, manure filled sheep pens stand empty. One has 50 sheep ready for slaughter, a path leading from the pen grows narrower as it feeds into an industrial complex designed for slaughter.

A SHEEP. Big and bleating. Looking right at us.

STUNBOLT GUN enters frame. Inches from the Sheep’sglabella. Also known as ‘that space between your eyes.’

It’s held there. For a squirm-in-your-seat amount of time.

VOICE (O.S.) Pull it, son.

That’s LEROY HANLON (60s). He looks much older though. Working every day of your life will do that to you. And he’s the Hanlon in --

HANLON ABBATOIR

It’s his grandson MIKE (13) that holds the Stunbolt Gun. Leroy describes Mike as ‘soft’. Because of reasons like this:

VOICE/LEROY Go on now. Pull it.

Mike’s hand shakes. Nerves getting to him.

He snatches the Stunbolt away from Mike. And without a moments hesitation he squeezes the trigger and --

Whompf! The Sheep falls. Mike stares at its bleeding-out carcass as Leroy hangs the Stunbolt.

Leroy points to the other Sheep. Lined up and waiting in the Slaughter Pen for their turn with the Stunbolt.

Doors fling open and ROWDY 6TH, 7TH, and 8TH GRADERS spill out into the halls like sheep. Books are hurled in the trash, lockers emptied out, papers strewn all over -- summer is officially commenced. Swept up among this madness is...

BILL DENBROUGH (13)

Handsome and gangly, a boy straight out of a Sally Mann photo, still haunted by the memory of his little brother.

EDDIE KASPBRAK (13)

A boy abnormally small for his age, his INHALER holstered in his medicine-filled fannypack;

RICHIE TOZIER (13)

A video game and television freak with bug-eyed glasses;

STANLEY URIS (13)

Tightly wound. Repressed. Anxious. Wears a kippah.

Eddie takes a puff off his INHALER.

They turn right toward the exit leading to endless summer but we push forward through the swarms of school kids and find --

Speaking of which --

A group of PRETTY POPULAR GIRLS, some in field hockey uniforms with pleated skirts they’ve rolled up extra short and carrying their sticks, join Travis and the others.

The prettier leader, GRETTA (14), rolls her eyes as she sees who has their attention...

A GIRL next to Gretta drops her backpack to her side and fishes out a field hockey ball from its front pocket.

GIRL #1 I think I can handle this.

Tee-ing up the ball she smacks it towards Beverly’s shins. Quick, a startled Beverly lifts one leg and the ball hits the lockers behind her with a loud CLANG.

GIRL #1 (CONT’D) Sure know how to spread ‘em, slut!

Peals of laughter from the group.

Beverly turns and darts down the hallways so they can’t see the reddening of her face.

Pudgy BEN HASCOMB (13)lingers with his bike. He has headphones ON, connected to a Walkman. Doesn’t hear the door open behind him and Beverly step out. Ben blocks her way.

She taps him on the shoulder. Startled, he turns and rips off his headphones. Like he’s embarrassed.

He steps aside. But Beverly doesn’t move. Instead lights a cigarette like a pro. Exhales a long stream of smoke before --

He was.

She grabs his headphones before Ben gets a chance to react. Which is a shame. Because as she puts ‘em on all we hear is --

I’ll be loving you forever... As long as you want me to be...

Ben. Red. Beverly. Surprised.

A little too quick. His ears turn red with embarrassment.

Ben crushing on her.

She doesn’t even wait for his answer and takes his YEARBOOK out of his hands. Opens it and sees she’s the first, and only, to sign it. Her heart breaks a little for him. She writes “Stay Cool”and signs her name with three hearts.

Ben sees a FAINT YELLOW BRUISE on her forearm. Beverly notices him noticing.

Ben watches her go, totally smitten.

Feeling brilliant for an instant--

Then smacks his head. “Laid in the shade”? Really? Burning with shame he hops on his bike.

Through the parking lot past a DERRY POLICE BOOTH, where a little gathering of cops eat donuts (CHIEF BORTON among them) not doing jack shit. The school MARQUEE reads:

REMEMBER THE CURFEW

7 P.M.

DERRY POLICE DEPARTMENT

Find Bill, Eddie, Richie and Stanley nearby watching --

The mother of Dorsey Corcoran, sleepless and desperate, scans the throngs of departing kids. Her desperate eyes fall on Bill, Richie, Eddie and Stanley. They avert their stares.

Richie is CHECKED TO THE PAVEMENT by Travis Bowers. His glasses fall off and a pile of comics and video game magazines spill from his back pack.

Travis kicks the glasses away. Victor grabs Stanley’s yarmulke and tosses it into the window of a departing bus.

Belch burps in Eddie’s face. Eddie wilts. Bill scoops up the remains of Richie’s glasses, smashed by the bus.

Travis and his goons turn. They stare at Bill menacingly.

Everyone around them stops and watches, waiting for Bill to respond. Eddie gives Bill a look to shut it. He does.

He starts to move toward Bill. But he catches sight of Chief Borton. Or more importantly, OFFICER BOWERS. Travis’ father. Sadly, we’ll meet him more officially later.

Travis looks back at Bill and the others. Tension. He steps back, giving the Boys some room to breathe. But not too much.

He heads off toward Victor’s Trans Am.

Backpacks. Unzipped. Stuffed with old homework, school projects, battered notebooks, broken pencils.

Bill, Richie, Stanley and Eddie shake their backpacks out over a dumpster in the back of Keene’s Pharmacy.

Purging themselves of the school year.

Masturbating.

Eddie, Richie and Stanley look at each other. The mood has changed. Back to Bill:

Richie sees Mike on his bike pedaling past ‘em. Richie waves.

They watch as Mike continues on, ultimately disappearing around the corner. Like he’s some sort of urban legend.

Nevermind that --

They all peel off in different directions. Bill and Richie on their bikes, Eddie and Stanley on foot.

Dust collects on the piano in the living room. A stale quiet suffocates the house. The only sound the ticking of a clock and the distant yelling of playing children.

Bill walks up his driveway as --

Breathe deep, Bill. Take it slow.

Skids to a stop at the mailbox. He opens it and sifts through mail, coming across a BROCHURE FOR ACADIA NATIONAL PARK.

His face lights up.

She’s watering their planters, mind a million miles away. Only when one overflows and spills onto her shoes does she snap out of it --

She goes to the spigot and turns off the hose.

Bill pushes his bike up to the GARAGE, brochure in hand.

Sees his dad, ZACH DENBROUGH (40), sits at his woodworking bench whittling a lump of wood into a DUCK DECOY. Behind him dozens of colorfully painted decoys are arranged on display.

He points to the corner, which is taken up by an elaborate, labyrinthine, scale model of the Derry sewers made out of yellow plastic hamster tubes.

Bill grabs a G.I. JOE ACTION FIGURE off the tool bench and sticks it in the tubes. He turns on the hose, sprays it at the model, and G.I. Joe goes sweeping through the plastic tunnels. Shooting onto the drain marked “Barrens.”

Zach folds a SEWER MAP that Bill had stapled above.

Gut punched. Bill looks to a HAMSTER IN AN EMPTY CAGE.

As he starts disassembling the model -- quietly, to himself --

Water leaks from the mouth of the hose and pools slowly at his feet. A sinister tremor disturbs its surface, or the reflection of a face...

Mike exits and hops on his bike. Doesn’t notice Victor’s Trans Am pass him on the street. But we do. And as Mike takes off in the other direction we keep with the Trans Am as it stops and makes a slow U-Turn. Uh-oh...

Mike on his bike. On his own. Working his way back to the Hanlon Homestead when --

Victor’s Trans Am appears behind him.

Victor behind the wheel. Travis reaches over and HONKS the horn. Mike turns.“Oh shit...” all over his face.

Mike pedals fast as the Trans Am screams up on him, like it’s going to chew ‘im up and spit him out. At the last second --

Mike turns off the road. Losing control of his bike. Leaps off but its speed keeps it upright and it CRASHES into --

A GNARLED, LIFELESS TREE.

Trans Am blasts past Mike. Amazing you can even hear their laughter over the roaring engine. Leaning out of the window --

Trans Am disappears around the bend. But it isn’t until the sound of the engine fades that Mike gets back to his feet.

Collects himself.

Walks back to his bike, half-hidden in the bushes. Rips it free from the brushwood and kneels to examine it.

Bent rim, broken spokes, snapped chain.

As he inspects the tires, he freezes. Like he senses a presence behind him. He turns right as --

Something darts into the bushes. Can’t be sure what it was but it looked like a messy mass of MELTED HANDS.

Not wanting to investigate further, Mike stands and starts to quickly push his bike back onto the road and out of town.

Stanley reads from the TORAH as the RABBI -- aka Stanley’s Dad -- watches over his shoulder. Waiting for a fuck up.

There it is.

Trying harder -- nervous --

Oy vey --

Stanley shakes his head.

Stanley’s eyes well up with tears. Doesn’t want to be a disappointment. Not to his Father. Not to anyone.

The Rabbi hands Stanley the scroll.

Ashamed, Stanley walks down the old, molding stone stairs to the basement of the synagogue. He finds his

DAD’S OFFICE

A scholar’s study. Rabbinical papers, journals, and books. So many books. On one of the walls hangs a PAINTING:Judith. Standing naked, holding her sword in one hand and the decapitated, bloody head of Holofernes in the other.

Stanley glances up at Judith as he passes with the scroll. Like he can’t help himself. Even though he’d rather not.

Creak...

Behind him, the Door to the Mikveh OPENS. A darkness beyond, seems to beckon him. Stanley steps toward. Like he might enter. But instead --

He SLAMS the door shut. Spooked.

Eddie walks down the street with crumbling asphalt that runs along the canal and the OLD TRAIN YARD.

Beep beep beep. He looks at his Casio Calculator Watch. Alarm has been set. Stops. Digs into his pocket.

Pulls out a BOTTLE OF PILLS. Open it and dumps a few into his hand. Different colors. About to pinch one up but --

Man, can’t shake the feeling he’s being watched.

He looks over at

THE HOUSE ON 29 NEIBOLT STREET

A plot infested with giant ratty sunflowers that hem in an abandoned, boarded up structure with a rotted, sloping facade that looks like Munch’s The Scream.

But no sign of anyone inside. Or out.

Unnerved, Eddie quickly looks at his pills. Starts to walk again as he tries to put them back in the bottle when --

CoughCough.

Not sure from where.

Startles Eddie. Drops his pills. They scatter over asphalt.

He looks back over at The House on 29 Neibolt Street.

Still no sign of anyone.

But hey, do you remember if the Front Door was open before?

Because it is now.

Eddie quickly kneels. Trying to collect his scattered pills and stuff ‘em back into his Medicine Bottle.

He reaches for A RED PILL when --

SOMEONE ELSE’S HAND picks it up instead. And let me tell you about this hand. If I can. Without throwing up.

Start with The Thumb. Or what’s left of it. Because really it’s nothing more than a NUBBIN which serves as an outpost in a sea of flaky flesh full of Open Sores and Hanging Scabs. Glistening with puss. And snot. Probably a mix of both.

It is the Hand of Disease.

It is the preview -- the amoozeblech -- of what is to come as Eddie looks up and sees --

A leprous, tumorous HOBO. A case study for Everything Awful Ever. A wet sponge of sickness.

Hobo COUGHS again.

Eddie squishes his face. He can feel the spittle stick and his skin absorb the messy microbes especially as --

Hobo blows his nose into his hand. Wipes it on his Coat Sleeve. We see the hint of a WHITE RUFFLE underneath.

I mean, maybe you see it. Or maybe you’re too focused on the long string of snot that droops down from his nose.

Hobo limps toward Eddie. Dragging his dead leg behind him.

Eddie scrambles back.

Not realizing he’s making his way closer to The House on 29 Neibolt Street. Until he turns around and sees --

An Orange Glow emanating from underneath the Front Porch. As if a sunset is happening just beyond the rotted lattice.

Eddie.

Fixated on that glow.

As the Hobo gets closer and closer.

We might lose Eddie here but --

BeepBeep.

Of his Watch again.

Blinks.

Eddie realizes the Hobo is right on him -- how’d he get to him so quick? -- and takes off running into the

BACK YARD

Reaches the Chain Link Fence.

Looks back at the House and sees --

Pennywise.

On the Back Porch.

Holding a bunch of Stringed Balloons in one hand as he waves to Eddie with the other.

Scared sick, Eddie begins to climb the fence. Not an easy feat for someone of his weak and feeble nature.

Falls to the other side.

Looks back. Ready to see something even worse but --

Pennywise is gone.

Eddie pulls out his Inhaler. Takes a puff.

Mike picks at his food. Leroy studies him. Half-amused.

Mike. Lost in thought.

Says that like he already knows the answer. Which is why Mike glances up at him. For a small moment.

And right before we think Mike is going to confide in his grandfather, he stops. Has questions of his own:

Before going further, he pauses to consider his grandson. Is he old enough? He decides. Sets down his fork. He leans in. It’s time for him to learn the truth about Derry:

While Eddie watches, Bill and Richie raid the kitchen like feral animals, stuffing Capri Suns, a bag of marshmallows, whatever snacks they can find into their backpacks.

One cabinet is FULL OF PILLS. Ignoring that, the boys collect their things and head into the

LIVING ROOM

On their way out the Front Door. MRS. KASPBRAK, an enormous 300-pound woman, is stuffed into a recliner. Muumuu. Moles. Curlers. Painting her nails as her eyes are glued toDonahue on their small Zenith TV. Maybe she won’t notice them leav--

Damnit. She did.

Eddie to Bill and Richie:Help. Please.

She looks them over, assessing whether this is a lie.

Almost home free but --

Eddie slumps. Knows exactly what he’s forgetting. He trudges over to his Mother. As the other boys watch. Kisses his Mother on the cheek. She smiles.

Bill chokes down laughter. Mrs. Kaspbrak shoots a look at Richie. Like, you wish. On their way out --

Green globes, curved iron staircases, shadowy charm. Ben sits at one of the long tables. Outside the Window, he sees --

Bill, Richie, Eddie and Stanley pedal past. A sharp reminder of his solitary state. He looks down at a POSTCARD. Reads the poem he’s written on it:

Satisfied, he addresses the postcard to “Bev Marsh” when --

THUMP!

Pointy-nosed MRS STARRET, 40s, slaps a dusty old book on the table next to Ben. He jumps, startled. Jeezus...

He goes for it but Mrs. Starret slides it back. Out of reach.

He glances at a newspaper on a table there, a headline with a grisly photo reads: “BODY FOUND BY CANAL NOT CORCORAN BOY”

MOMENTS LATER

Ben slides the dusty old book to him, its jacket reads:“A HISTORY OF OLD DERRY BY BRANSON BUDDINGER.”

He flips through pages. Through history. Renderings of Early Penobscot settlements. Looting by the British in 1812. Sawmill boom soon after. And then PHOTOGRAPHS. Like this one:

Children at the OLD IRONWORKS, in their Easter best holding baskets of eggs, gathered around a CIRCUS WAGON. Whatever they are looking at, entertained by, is just out of sight.

He turns the page and is greeted with a HEADLINE:

EASTER EXPLOSION KILLS 88 CHILDREN, 102 TOTAL

Underneath, another PHOTOGRAPH of the Ironworks. Or what’s left of it. Which isn’t much. He turns the page to find --

A PHOTOGRAPH.

Townspeople surround a tree. Pointing up at something in its branches, with varied versions of horrified expressions.

What is it? There in the branches?

Ben turns the page. Same Picture. Almost. Because we’re CLOSER now to the object in the tree. Ben turns the page again. CLOSER. Another page. CLOSER. Another. CLOSER.

This continues until we’re right in the branches with --

THE DECAPITATED HEAD OF A SMALL CHILD.

Ben slams the book shut and pushes it away. He looks around the library, spooked. Mrs. Starret blithely stamps books behind her desk. Everyone goes about their business.

But what about --

THAT PINK EASTER EGG

At the top of the stairs leading to the Archives.

Does no one else see it?

Curious, Ben gets up from the table. Grabs his postcard and stuffs it into his pocket. Eyes on the egg. Walks over.

He picks the egg up. Hefts it.

Ben looks around, getting the uneasy sense he’s being watched. He’s about to turn back when he sees --

AT THE BOTTOM OF THE STAIRS

ANOTHER EASTER EGG. Yellow. With a RED BALLOON tied around it. Ben goes down into the

ARCHIVES ROOM

Even in the daytime it’s dark. So there’s no telling what stalks the labyrinthine aisles with high-walled shelves.

Ben picks up the yellow egg. Stares at it. Considering.

VOICE (O.S.) That one is mine!

A SMALL HAND snatches the Easter Egg from Ben. Startles the hell out of him. He sees a BOY, 8, disappear down an aisle.

He’s carrying an Easter Egg Basket and wears a Knicker Suit, as was the style at the beginning of last century.

Ben chases after him.

Loses him in the aisles. But a growing sense of fear as he rounds the corners. What was that? And that?

Noises. Fade. Shadows. Creep.

Ben finds himself back at the beginning.

Crack.

Like a dropped egg.

Ben looks over at the stairs. Yolk oozes down a step.

From the top, the Boy takes a step down. Only his legs are visible, the rest of him obscured by the overhang.

He takes another step. Wobbly, like he might fall. A little more of him is revealed. No basket. So he uses the crook of his arm for his eggs. Not the best way to transport ‘em and --

Crack.

One more egg gone.

He takes another step down. Revealing his torso. And then another step, revealing --

The Boy. Headless. Little wisps of smoke curl up into the air, coming out of the gaping hole that used to be his neck. He takes another step and loses the other eggs.

Crackcrackcrackcrack...

Ben takes off running into the aisles. Boy chases. Ben screams, running as fast as his fat legs can take him. Until he runs right into --

Mrs. Starrett.

Ben. Catching his breath. Looks behind him. No sign of the Headless Boy. Or the eggs.

Ben exits. Rattled. Clutching the postcard. Crosses over to

MONUMENT SQUARE

Walks by the STATUE OF THE GOVERNOR OF MAINE. Its eyes seem to follow Ben. Sensing this, Ben meets its gaze. Unnerved.

Fuck. Travis steps out from behind the statue. Ben stuffs the postcard into his bag, spins around and --

Behind him, Hockstettler. Victor and Belch on either side.

Travis and the boys drag Ben onto the bridge. They fling Ben against the railing and flip up his sweatshirt, exposing his fat belly. Belch slaps it hard. Ben screams.

Victor squishes it in his hands, SQUEALING like a pig. Patrick pulls out his lighter and a can of hairspray.

Hockstettler jettisons a fireball with his make-shift flame thrower, just past Ben’s head.

Travis pulls the buck knife from his jeans. Ben’s eyes go wide. He looks around for help.

A CAR putters down the street and crosses the bridge.

An OLD COUPLE sit in front with glazed looks. They catch eyes with Ben. See his tears. But do nothing. As the car passes, reveal in the backseat --

A RED BALLOON.

Ben scans his surrounding, the bridge’s old wooden beams CARVED UP with hundreds of hearts and names of lovers.

In two quick motions Travis SLASHES A BRIGHT RED “T” in Ben’s belly. Victor and Hockstettler laugh. Belch is unsettled.

Ben is too shocked to scream. He looks over his shoulder at the stream behind him, then back at Travis’s bloody grin.

Ben plants his heel in Travis’s chest and launches himself backward over the railing, out of the grip of Victor and Snatch. Travis is knocked back on his ass onto the pavement.

Ben tumbles down the culvert, fetching up hard against a fallen tree. He picks himself up as --

Travis leaps over the railing with the knife, Victor, Snatch and Hockstettler right behind.

Ben darts off across the water into a thicket of woods.

THE BARRENS

Travis trips, tangling up his whole crew. They all go splashing down in the stream, where Travis LOSES THE KNIFE.

Travis gropes around for his lost knife, suddenly hysterical.

Travis and Victor search the stream, hands passing right by where the BLADE IS WEDGED UNDER A LOG.

Hockstetter and Belch take off after Ben.

A VENTED IRON MANHOLE COVER. Stamped onto it is --

Derry Sewer Department

This is the Morlock Hole. A cement cylinder that sticks about four feet out of the ground. A DRONE. Somewhere deep within.

We move beyond it to reveal,

THE BARRENS.

A messy, untamed tract of land. Big and green and wild. We follow a trickle of water to its source --

A LARGE SEWER DRAINPIPE.

Eddie paces at the entrance. Stanley moves to join Richie further inside, scraping a branch against its grimy corrugated walls. Stanley turns to Eds --

Bill is deeper in the LONG CAVERNOUS SEWER PIPE, which extends into pitch darkness. Beyond it though, you get a sense of something lurking... something waiting...

Richie dips his branch in the water and sniffs the tip.

Bill sees something in the muck and fishes it out.

They all shut up and turn to Bill, holding a sneaker.

He flips Richie the sneaker, nods to look inside. Richie flashes his key-ring light, sees “D. CORCORAN”written on the sole in black marker.

Bill fishes it out with a branch, afraid to touch it.

The Others look at Richie:Did he really just say that?

They all lock eyes.

Richie picks up a stick and starts sloshing deeper into the dark pipe where the shoe was found. Eddie stays frozen.

Bill, who has been uncommonly quiet, finally speaks.

He dumps out a bag of marshmallows and bags the shoe.

RUSTLING.

From the bushes.

They freeze. Waiting. Wondering. Is Stanley right?

MORE RUSTLING.

A FIGURE crashes out of the brush.

Eddie falls back.

None of ‘em speak as we reveal, Ben. Barely standing before them. Beaten. And bloody.

Ben collapses.

Hockstetter and Belch split up. One going this way. The other going that. Hockstetter hears commotion up ahead. The Boys.

He smiles and picks up his pace. Passing the droning Morlock Hole as he creeps up toward the Sewer Drainpipe.

Our boys are in for it.

Hockstetter peeks through the bushes. But no sign of Ben, Bill, Richie, Eddie or Stanley. But he hears the ECHO of --

FOOTSTEPS.

From inside the Sewer Drainpipe.SplishSplashing through the water. Hockstetter enters the --

SEWER DRAINPIPE

He giggles, excited by the chase. It bounces off and around the sewer walls. As he steps further in.

Approaching the darkness, Hockstetter pulls out his LIGHTER and his can of HAIRSPRAY. Flicks the lighter. Presses down on the spray can valve and --

Whooosh!

A flickering and licking long stream of flame shoots out ahead of him. A makeshift flamethrower.

Illuminates the Sewer for an instant before --

Blackness returns.

Hockstetter takes a couple more steps. Sound of trickling water, faint noise of distant traffic overhead. And...

...that’s not calliope music is it? For a split second I thought I heard... Nah, never mind. Anyway --

Whoooosh!

More grey water. More slimy sewer walls. More darkness.

Hockstetter stops in a SHAFT OF SHARPLY SLICED SUNLIGHT, shining through the SEWER GRATE directly above him.

He listens.

Something there. In the darkness beyond.PitterPatterof Footsteps. Wet, raspy breathing. Sniffling.

He steps out of the light and into the dark.

Whoooosh!

Nothing. Darkness returns and an eerie silence settles in.

Whooooosh! Whoa --

DEAD CHILDREN.

Surround Hockstetter. Staring at him. Their eyes lit by the orange flame. Or is that orange glow coming from within them?

Can’t tell. Happens all too quick before their cloaked again in the black nothingness of the sewer.

Hockstetter quickly flickers the lighter.

A soft glow.

Holds up the spray can. Presses down. But it doesn’t work. So he RATTLErattleRATTLESit. Like a rattlesnake about to strike. Sound amplified by the tunnels.

Whooosh!

MORE DEAD CHILDREN. And standing among them...

Pennywise.

His smile begins to grow, as his jaw becomes unhinged. Revealing rows and rows of teeth right before --

Blackness returns.

Hockstetter about to flick his lighter again but instead --

Crunch.

He SCREAMS.

Hear his FOOTSTEPS.

Running.

We don’t see him again until he stumbles and falls into another SHAFT OF LIGHT. He looks chewed and spit out. Like a bad piece of gristly meat.

He looks up into the light.

On the Sewer Grate. As cars drive past and pedestrians walk by. No one hears the horrible screams. Except for us.

And only because we know it’s there.

Hockstetter looks behind him. Something fast approaching. He gets back to his feet. Runs as fast as he’s able.

In and out of periodic light.

Stumbles again. Tripping over a RUSTED, BROKEN PIPE. He picks it up. Turns.

He waits. Ready to throw down. Sees something slowly approach in the darkness. Can’t make it out yet... but then barely...

A RED BALLOON floats toward him.

Only stops when it gets right up to his bleeding, bruising face. So he can see something written on the other side.

He rotates the balloon to read --

I LOVE DERRY!

POP!

Balloon breaks.

Pennywise right behind it.

Hockstetter opens his mouth to scream.

Pennywise lunges.

Dragging Hockstetter back into the blackness for good.

The kids tear into the alley, dazed and bloody Ben riding double with Richie, bikes clattering to the pavement.

Bill, Eddie and Stanley disappear around the block.

Tampons. Lots of varieties. Too many. Beverly stares at them all. Overwhelmed and unsure.

Gretta appears from the back. Beverly turns away to hide as her sworn enemy exits through the Front Entrance right at the same time that Bill, Eddie, and Stanley rush in --

We stay with the boys as they race down one of the aisles. Eddie snatches cotton balls and antiseptic and bandages off the shelf like an expert. Bill checks prices.

Eddie pulls out one crumbled dollar.

They glance at the mirror where MR. KEENE (50s) the grumpy, eagle-eyed pharmacist watches them like a hawk as he fills prescriptions. Beverly comes up behind them.

Beverly puts her tampons down at the counter. Mr. Keene smiles at her.

Surprised by the request, he tentatively takes them off and hands them to Beverly. She puts them on and smiles back.

She takes them off and hands them back, knocking over a display of CIGARETTES. They clatter to the floor.

Mr. Keene leans down to pick them up. Beverly looks to Bill and Eddie who grab the bandages and race out the store.

Bev strides out. Bill waits for her by the curb under a COLORFUL MURAL about the FBI’s ambush of the infamous Bradley Gang, a celebrated slice of Derry town history.

He tries to give her his crumpled bill and some change.She flashes a pack of STOLEN CIGARETTES.

She looks over and sees Ben, Eddie and Richie in the alley. Staring at her. She waves but then realizes --

ON BEN

He’s trying to decide what’s worse. Being seen like this or being caught listening to New Kids on the Block.

Answer: Doesn’t matter. They both suck.

Trying to man up --

Ben smiles, nods. The inside joke between them eases the pain a bit. He’s about to say something but --

They watch her walk back down the Alley and turn onto Center Street. Bill -- like Ben -- is smitten.

They get to work on Ben.

But we PAN UP to the MURAL and notice, painted in the shadow of one of the windows, a white face watching the ambush with a bloodless, sinister smile. PENNYWISE.

A FRESH BANDAGE.

Ben peels it away, inspecting the wound underneath.

They’re at

BASSEY PARK QUARRY, LOVER’S LEAP

A massive rock formation.

Ben looks at Bill, Richie, Stanley and Eddie all stripped to their tightie-whities, standing in a line staring at the edge, the black water foreboding, endless.

Ben walks over. He wants to earn his keep.

The boys turn around to see Bev stripping out of a one piece summer dress down to her underwear. Before they can comprehend what’s happening, she sprints off the edge and jumps into the water. BOOM. Cannonball.

The Boys look at one another. And then one by one --

They jump.

Don’t know what color your eyes are baby but your hair is long and brown...

...legs are strong, and you’re so so long and you don’t come from this town...

Beverly lays out on a rock. She’s sun-drenched. As Richie’s Boom Box nearby continues playing Love and Rocket’s 1989 summer radio hit “I’m Alive”.

Bill, Ben, Stanley, Richie,Eddie lay on other rocks, leaving a distance between them and Beverly. None of ‘em bold enough to lay near her. But all of ‘em wishing they were as they sneak their stares in.

I’m alive, huh, huh, so alive...

Beverly turns to lay on her stomach, the sudden movement startling the boys, so they all look away. Busy themselves with other things...

Like Richie turns to Ben’s Backpack. Filled with books and papers. He starts to go through it as he realizes --

Richie finds The Postcard.

Ben snatches it away.

He looks over at Beverly. Specifically, at her KNAPSACK. Eddie flips through a book on the History of Derry.

Bill and Richie take a closer look. Beverly joins them.

She sits down next to Bill. He can barely concentrate with her so close to him. Skin smells like sun lotion.

Beverly looks at him and smiles. Not sure what to do -- oh, awkward youth -- Bill turns back at Ben’s Research.

A XEROX shows an 1879 newspaper story with two old photos: the first of loggers posed in front of the Silver Dollar Saloon with schooners of beer in one hand and axes in the other, the second of five bodies chopped up on the sawdust floor. Headline screams:“FIVE MASSACRED IN BROAD DAYLIGHT”

The Kids look at each other. Creepy...

Off their “Fuck Yes” faces --

Panicking, Ben hurries into his messy bedroom. We can hear the others coming up the stairs behind him as he kicks dirty underwear under the bed -- tosses PJs in his dresser -- stuffs books of poetry into his desk right before --

Beverly enters.

Followed close behind by the other Losers.

Ben turns, wondering what he was thinking to invite them all here. Jeezus, what did he forget?

All the attention is on his Bedroom Walls. Every inch is papered with more Xerox Copies of Newspaper Articles and Photographs. All on the History of Derry.Loggers drinking beer in the Silver Dollar in the 1880s. Little Kids on an Easter egg hunt at the Old Ironworks in 1907. FBI MEN stand over a bank robber’s bullet riddled car in the 1930s.

Richie looks at him, concerned.

Stanley sees a copy of an old document with 90 signatures. INCORPORATION OF THE TOWNSHIP OF DERRY.

Ben quickly looks over at Beverly. Trying to cover --

Beverly shakes her head. Bill throws him a look:D-dude...

Lets it sink in. He’s got ‘em.

Eddie is freaked out by this revelation.

ON BEN’S DESK

Next to some half-built models, Bill finds a few SLIDES. Holds them ONE BY ONE up to the light as Ben continues:

Intrigued by all the stories, Beverly finds herself over by Ben’s Bedroom Door. Obscuring more articles. She starts to close the door to get a better look and sees a POSTER hanging’ tough on the back. New Kids on the Block.

She turns and sees Ben. Beet red, staring right at her. Horrified. That’s what he forgot...

Beverly quickly opens the door again before any of the other kids see it. Ben exhales, relieved. Kind of.

ON BILL. Holding up another slide: The First Map of Derry.

Richie opens his backpack, full of teeth rotting and MSG- filled goodies. The kids pounce. Bill looks thoughtfully over the walls and books, then at DORSEY CORCORAN’S SHOE.

Bill hands Dorsey Corcoran’s shoe, still wet in a marshmallow bag, a map rolled into it, to Chief Borton (50s, pudgy).The wall behind him is plastered with fliers of kids, each with “MISSING” or “MURDERED” over their smiling faces -- with names like Dorsey Corcoran, Betty Ripson, Chad Lowe, Missy Albrecht, and others aged 3 to 19.

Borton looks over at Officer Bowers. Christ...

Laughs, proud of his own joke but --

Prick? Asshole? Fucknut?

He turns and leaves.

A slummy apartment over Lower Main Street. Beverly’s Dad, MR. MARSH (late 30s), still in his janitor’s uniform from Derry Home Hospital, sits passed out in front of the TV.

Entering the apartment, Beverly quietly tiptoes past him.

Beverly dumps out her knapsack. Among her belongings, she finds a POSTCARD. With a familiar poem.

From the Living Room, her Father clears his throat. Is he up? Taking no chances, she hurries into the

BATHROOM

With the Post Card. Shuts the door. Locks it. Reads the poem aloud to herself --

It’s from ‘Your Secret Admirer’.

Beverly blushes. Sees there isn’t any return address. As she wonders who it could be from she hears --

CHILD’S VOICE (O.S.) Help me.

Beverly looks around for the voice, startled.

CHILD’S VOICE (O.S.) (CONT’D) Help me, Beverly.

It comes from THE SINK DRAIN, above her head. She leans forward over the basin, looking down into the dark void...

Nothing. BEV’S EYE PEERS DOWN THROUGH THE CIRCLE OF LIGHT.

CHILD’S VOICE (O.S.) We all want to play with you.

She gasps. The single voice turns into a cacophony, bubbling up through the ages.

CHILD’S VOICE (O.S.) (CONT’D) Come play with us, Beverly. Come play with the clown. You’ll float.

Terrified, Beverly dashes out.

Bill’s mom washes the dishes while Bill sits at the table and eats a bowl of ice cream. Zach flips through aPopular Mechanics, still in his overalls from the DERRY PUBLIC WORKS.

No response. Finally his dad stirs.

His dad stops mid flip, looks to Bill’s mom who’s on edge.

His mom throws down a dish and, unable to compose herself, storms upstairs. All the air goes out of the room.

Zach wants to respond but can’t. He goes to the sink and turns off the faucet.

He fiddles his wedding ring. Zach is too upset to look his boy in the eye.

He takes Bill’s bowl of ice cream, throws it into the sink and goes, Bill’s spoon left hanging over nothing.

Bev finds HER FATHER (40s) now asleep in front of the TV. His toolbelt is thrown up on the coffee table. She creeps over and steals the TAPE MEASURE.

Beverly stands over the sink basin, tape measure in hand. The voice is silent.

She unfurls the tape into the drain, its tip disappearing into the void. FOOT BY FOOT she snakes the tape into the drain, until it’s fully extended at 20 feet.

She waits for a voice. Nothing.

Slowly, she begins to reel the tape back in, counting down the length as it winds back in. 16 feet... 15 feet... 14 feet... AT 13 FEET VISCOUS BLOOD COATS THE TAPE.

BEVERLY GASPS and drops the measure. It goes clattering into the sink, the tape coiling up like a snake, blood flickering everywhere as she stumbles back, tripping into the shower.

BLOOD GOUTS UP FROM THE SINK DRAIN

Like a demonic ejaculation -- blood splatters the mirror, the wallpaper, bouncing off walls and covering Beverly. She SCREAMS and runs out the door...

...into her father, who comes charging up the hall. She screams again, recoiling away.

He places his hand on her cheek, tender.

He takes her hand. They step into...

Mr. Marsh looks around, eyes wide, blood splattered everywhere, but the blood doesn’t register with him.

He steps over and grabs the BLOOD-COATED TAPE, clipping it onto his belt, blood on his hands now too.

He doesn’t seem to see any of it. Only Beverly can. She realizes this.

He pulls back the shower curtain, leaving behind bloody fingerprints. A spider scurries toward the drain.

Bev’s speechless. She staggers back. He catches her wrist.

He crushes the spider under his boot, grinding it in.

He comes over to her, smoothing out her hair over her forehead, proprietary. The blood on her face like finger paint. This is when he scares her the most.

He rests his forehead against hers, breathes in her scent.

He looks her up and down.

She averts her eyes, nods, placating. Satisfied, he goes back down the hall to his game. Beverly darts into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

ANGLE ON a wet, dark spot as it grows on a white plaster ceiling, the first droplet of water forming. SLOW MOTION as it breaks away and falls through space...

...onto Bill’s face. He doesn’t stir. More droplets follow. Tap, Tap, Tap. Finally, Bill awakes. Looks up at:

A leak in the ceiling.

Bill flips back his covers.

Bill grabs a bucket from a utility closet and walking back sees the door open to the GEORGIE’S ROOM, a light on...

Bill enters, the room frozen in time.

GEORGIE’S TOY BOX is open, a Lego Turtle standing next to it, as if taken out to play.

Bill picks it up and sits down, Turtle in hand. He indulges in the sadness that has engulfed his home for months. The loss of his brother hitting him full force, he closes his eyes to fight back the tears, but cannot.

He cries for Georgie. Photographs of Georgie, illuminated by passing cars, seem to watch him from the walls.

A SHADOW seems to stretch across Georgie’s room from the doorway. Bill looks up but no one is there.

Bill steps out of Georgie’s room and finds DARK FOOTPRINTS IN THE CARPET. He leans down and touches one -- squishy and wet. They track down the dark staircase.

Bill, heart pounding, follows the wet footprints down the stairs, careful not to step in any of them.

At the bottom of the stairs Bill finds the footprints lead TOWARD THE KITCHEN WHERE...

Bill sees a YELLOW FLASH of something ducking around the corner. Startled, Bill drops the Lego turtle, which smashes into pieces and scatters across the wood floor...

Bill looks back up the stairs half-expecting his parents to wake up. Nothing but an eerie silence. He gathers his courage and follows the wet footprints into...

Bill steps in, face to face with THE CELLAR DOOR, the door creaking closed, light snapped on behind it, footprints disappearing down into the cellar.

He slowly approaches the door and reaches out for the handle, but stops with second thoughts. He starts backing away, too spooked to go down, when he hears...

A CHILD WEEPING BEYOND THE DOOR, then...

Bill opens the door, rickety stairs leading down into darkness, the weeper somewhere in the recesses, along with the steady sound of a LEAK.

Steeling himself, Bill descends. He gets to the last few rungs and is thrown off for a moment seeing HIS REFLECTION in the basement floor, as if it were A BLACK MIRROR. He realizes

THE CELLAR HAS FLOODED

Bill looks up toward the leak/weeping sound and sees, curled in the same corner where we had that opening POV...

GEORGIE IN HIS YELLOW SLICKER.

Rain rolling off him like he’s still in a storm flooding the cellar. He looks up at Bill, his skin bloodless, paper thin.

Bill moves to step into the water when he hesitates, holding his foot over it. He looks to Georgie whose expression of distress seems insincere.

Bill grabs a rake from the wall and pokes its tip into the water. Impossibly, it goes ALL THE WAY TO THE HILT.

Water and muck pour from his mouth as he says these last words, an endless cascade.

Bill recoils, back-peddling up the steps.

Georgie starts to glide over the water toward Bill, who realizes there is a creature beyond it, white face half submerged like a crocodile, propping up Georgie’s body like a MEAT PUPPET.

PENNYWISE begins to surface.

Horrified, Bill bolts up the steps, slamming and locking the basement door behind him.

Bill runs out of the kitchen, sliding on the scattered Legos and cutting his feet. He bounds up the stairs right into...

His dad, wearing PJs. His mom shows at the door, not happy.

Bill and Zach stand over the stairwell. Zach turns the light on and walks down, much to Bill’s horror...

Into a puddle of water.

Bill holds himself, too freaked out to speak.

Travis puts cream on FRESH BELT LASHES across his back.All around him on the walls are posters of monster trucks.

A HONK from outside.

He throws down his shirt and goes into the

LIVING ROOM

Passing his father, Officer Bowers. In his knock off La-Z-Boy drinking a beer and watching the newest episode of ‘COPS’.

Travis goes to pass him. Officer Bowers reaches out and stops his son from going any further. Travis straightens. Knows the routine all too well --

Officer Bowers stares him down. Like he isn’t sure what to do with his son. Most likely knock him around some more. But nah, too much work right now.

Travis runs out to Victor and Belch waiting in Victor’s Trans Am. Belch is in the Passenger Seat.

Belch gets in the back.

And as if to answer to his question, Mike rides by on his bike. Off to collect more payments.

Bill and Richie wait as Ben, Stanley and Eddie join them.

Beverly bursts out of the Apartment Building.

Bill, Stanley, Ben and Eddie go with Beverly.

Beverly opens the door. Afternoon sunlight illuminates floating dust motes as Bill, Ben, Stanley and Eddie follow her to the closed BATHROOM DOOR.

She has no intention of going in. Bill pushes past Ben and opens the door.

THE BLOOD

Still there, faded into maroon clouds on the mirror and wallpaper. Eddie reels back into the hallway with Beverly. She looks from Ben to Bill.

Bill nods.

Beverly is so relieved she almost cries.

Bill doesn’t say anything. Which says it all. Eddie starts to hyperventilate. Everyone looks over at him.

Eddie just nods and walks out the door.

Bill, Stanley, Ben and Beverly clean like grim elves, using a bucket of hot water, ajax, and some cloth rags. Slowly the blood washes out. Reaching for the same rag, Bill and Bev’s hands touch, a spark between them.

Eddie and Richie stand lookout on the curb below. Eddie still disturbed by what he saw.

While Ben and Stanley carry out trash bags of soaked towels, Bill and Beverly pour the last bucket of pink water down the bathtub drain. The bathroom now as clean as it ever was. The bucket is filled with blood stained rags.

He turns on the faucet to flush out the sink.

They watch the water cyclone around the drain. Hoping the awkwardness will get flushed away too...

Beverly smiles. Relieved. Shuts off the water.

Ben stands, stunned at the wonder of being inher room. He hears a giggle and looks out into the hall. Sees Bill and Bev at the end of it, having their moment.

A PUDDLE.

Reflection of the Losers’ ripple away as they push their bikes through it, walking along the stretch of

KANSAS STREET

That borders the Barrens.

Beverly looks over at Bill. His brow furrowed. Like he’s trying to solve a complicated math problem in his head.

They stop. Because up ahead they see VICTOR’S TRANS AM. Parked on the side of the road.

He points to MIKE’S BIKE tangled in the weeds next to it.

A PILE OF FRESH, GROUND MEAT. Raw, bloody. A fly buzzes around it. Like, jackpot...

Belch and Victor continue laughing as --

Travis’ WORK BOOT pushes Mike’s head closer to the meat in the dirt. Mike tries to resist. But Travis pushes harder.

We’re in the

BARRENS

Mike’s nose touches the wet meat. The faintestsquish.

Travis pushes down again -- Mike’s hands slip in the gravel -- splat! -- his face goes into the meat.

Travis and his Boys whoop it up.

Still flat on the ground, Mike wipes the meat off his face. And even in the midst of this, something BRIGHT RED in the brown and green Barrens catches his eye.

A CLOWN?!

Watching from the fringe.

Applauding the --

WHAM!

Mike gets kicked in the head. Damn, that hurt. Pushed to the brink, he forgets what the fuck he just saw. Grabs a fistful of meat and --

Whips it up at Travis and his Boys. Covers them in blood and ribbons of lamb and beef.

Mike tries to scramble away but --

Belch hooks him by the collar. Throws him back down into the gravel. Travis jumps on top. Grabs a handful of gravel and --

WHAM!

Travis gets hit HARD in the face with a rock. That’ll leave a nasty wound that won’t go away for the rest of our story.

Attention snaps over to the --

LOSERS. Standing like saviors.

Mike uses the second of distraction to push off of Travis and get back onto his feet. He races over to join the Losers’.

WHAM! Richie gets pegged with a Rock thrown by Belch. Maybe he should have kept his trashmouth shut.

Loser’s pick up more rocks. Starts whipping ‘em at Travis, Victor, Patrick, and Snatch.

The Bowers Gang returns fire. Everybody ducks for cover, trying not to get hit. It’s a brutal battle.

Cornered, Bill yells out his orders --

They do. And don’t stop until they’re safe. And as they all catch their breaths on

CANAL STREET

Mike turns to the group.

Off our Losers --

TITLE CARD OVER A MANHOLE COVER MARKED “DERRY PUBLIC WORKS”

JULY

A foot steps over it as we pan up to...

The Town prepares for a celebration. Red, White and Blue Banners. Fireworks For Sale Signs. A Brass Band rehearses.

We find the Losers in

MONUMENT SQUARE

On a bench by the Paul Bunyan Statue.

All eyes on Mike.

Bill can’t sleep. He lays in bed, eyes wet with tears, as he stares at the lone Walkie Talkie on his shelf. Can’t bear to look at it any longer, he rolls over to his other side.

Which is why he doesn’t see --

The Walkie’s POWER LIGHT blink GREEN. And a moment holds before...

...STATIC.

Bill sits up and looks over at the Walkie. Its Talk Light BLINKS on. Off. On. He reaches for it when --

He grabs the Walkie.

A BURST of STATIC. LOUD. Before silence.

Bill. Eyes red. Tears hot.

Bedroom Door OPENS. It’s Zach. Backlit by the dim light in the Hallway as he says --

Clutching the Walkie, Bill looks up at his father. So much to say... But would he listen? Would he believe? Bill decides.

He shuts the door. Shadows return. Darkness and then...

BRIGHT WHITE LIGHT.

Illuminates the Sewer Map taped to the back wall of

DENBROUGH GARAGE

The light is from an OLD CAROUSEL SLIDE PROJECTOR Bill has positioned on a couple of stacked boxes.

The Losers huddle around it like a campfire.

Ben pulls a SLIDE out of his pocket and hands it over. Bill inserts the slide into the tray of the Projector.

He clicks the advance button and --

Gah-guh!

Carousel Tray rotates.

THE OLD MAP OF DERRY is overlayed with the Sewer Map.

Eddie takes a puff off his inhaler.

Eddie goes over to the Sewer Map and rips it off the wall.

Gah-guh!

Projector Tray rotates. So it’s back to being a WHITE SQUARE OF LIGHT shining on Eddie. No more Map of Derry.

Gah-guh!

Rotates again.

Gah-guh! And again. Gah-guh! Gah-guh!

Mike tries to stop it.

Suddenly, OLD VACATION SLIDES FROM ACADIA NATIONAL PARK APPEAR. The Denbrough Family in Happier Times.

When Georgie was still alive.

There they are hiking. There they are swimming. There Georgie is on the edge of the lake. There he is again.

And again. Same photo. Again. Waitaminute...

Gah-guh! Gah-guh!

The Carousel continues to spin. That same slide. But now it looks as if Georgie is moving.

Bit by bit. And the entire scene is becoming animated. Ripples in the lake. Georgie turning to camera.

An expression of pure fear on his face --

Gah-guh! Gah-guh!

Georgie runs toward camera.

Gah-guh!

No one moves. Fixed on this event.

As Georgie continues to run -- no sound -- but his mouth screaming for help -- as he looks back toward the lake and --

What’s he see?

Stanley goes over and pulls out the cord.

Gah-guh!

That doesn’t do shit.

Gah-guh! Georgie runs off of frame.Gah-guh! As the thing he was running from appears.Gah-GODDAMNIT --

It’s Pennywise. In the middle of the lake. Standing on water. Waving. At camera. At the Losers. At Us.

Carousel spins faster and faster, which makes Pennywise’s wave smoother and smoother until --in the span of a click --

Pennywise appears right up against camera. Losers SCREAM.

Mike kicks the boxes and the Carousel crashes to the ground. No more Pennywise on the wall.Phew...

They look over at Beverly. She’s staring at something above them. They follow her gaze up to the

CEILING

To where the Carousel is now projecting. With more space between it and the ceiling, the square frame is bigger now.

And so is Pennywise. Staring down at them with a freeze-frame snarl. Until --

He POPS OUT of frame.

Fast at first -- but then almost in slow-motion -- as if he’s diving into the frigid waters of our reality.

He reaches out toward Beverly --

She falls to the floor to try and distance herself but it isn’t going to help. He’s just about to grab her when --

GARAGE DOOR OPENS.

Flooding the room with light which in turn makes Pennywise disappear. The Losers look over at --

Ben. By the Garage Door Opener.

He walks over to her. Helps Beverly get back on her feet.

Stanley looks over at Richie. His face pale, his mouth open, his mind blown, his fear palpable.

Richie shakes his head. Doesn’t have anything to say. For the first time in his life. Uneasy silence broken by --

But he doesn’t wait. Bill hops onto his bike.

He takes off.

Bill hops off his bike and stares at the house. A little less brave now that he’s there. As he walks --

A LONE BIRD SQUAWKS across the sky somewhere overhead. Startles him. He stops. Regards the house.

Not sure he can do this.

He looks over. Sees Beverly and the rest of the Losers ride into view. They skid to a stop beside him.

Eddie puffs his inhaler. His eyes locked on the porch. Where he saw Pennywise earlier.

He trudges up to 29 Neibolt. His speech settles in.

Richie follows him. Soon, they all do.

At the windows, the Losers cup their hands around their faces, trying to get a sense of what awaits them inside but --

Bill steps back and over to the Front Door.

Reaches out for the KNOB as a breeze blows -- an unnatural one? -- and -- clack! --door unlatches.

He looks back at the others. They’re all staring at the door. Wondering what’s beyond.

Freaked out, Eddie takes another puff off his inhaler. Richie grabs it from him and does the same. He coughs. Gross...

Eddie snatches it back.

As Bill is about to push open the door --

They look at him.

Mike steps off the porch and picks up a broken wrought-iron FENCE ROD. Holds it like a weapon.

Good idea.

They all scatter and search

IN THE YARD

A brick, a sharp-ended stick, whatever they can find. Richie picks up an empty BEER BOTTLE and smashes it against a rock.

Just like they do in the movies.

Harder than it looks.

And when he does finally manage to break it, it just shatters to a million, useless little pieces.

He looks to Mike:

MOMENTS LATER

The Losers reunite on the Front Porch. Nod to Bill:Okay, now or never...

Bill pushes the Front Door OPEN and takes us inside.

Condoms, Candy Wrappers, and Cigarette Butts litter the floor. Old Magazines and Newspapers stacked so high it’s like they’re holding up the second floor.

And Graffiti. It’s everywhere.

Screw Derry. Just Say Yes. Class of Who the Fuck Cares.

Everything about this place feels like a nest made by junkies and serial killers. Shredded carpet. Broken Furniture.

The Losers take it all in.

He picks up a water-stained MAGAZINE. It’sFamous Monsters of Filmland. On the cover, a Werewolf.

Beverly sees an OLD LANTERN on one of the shelves. Right next to a dismembered Doll. She tries turning it on.

It flickers to fluorescent life.

He moves toward the kitchen BUT FROM UPSTAIRS --

CHILD’S VOICE (O.S.) Hello? Is someone here?

Eyes shoot up to the ceiling above them. Ben looks over at Bill and wonders softly --

Bill shakes his head:No...

CHILD’S VOICE (O.S.) HELLO?!

Over to the foot of the stairs --

We SLOWLY PUSH UP the steps.

Leaving the Losers’ behind as we drift down the

UPSTAIRS HALLWAY

Rotted, water-stained wallpaper with elves on it peels like dead skin from scummy walls. Ripped orange carpet.

As we approach the FAR CORNER, we begin to hear from just around the other side, a LOW FREQUENCY BUZZ.

BZZZZzzzzzzZZZZZZzzzzzz....

It’s unsettling.

And growing louder the closer we get.

From around the corner --

CHILD’S VOICE (O.S.) Help me, please...

FOOTSTEPS.

Up the stairs.

We spin around and see Beverly standing at the top of the steps. The Other Losers cram themselves around her.

CHILD’S VOICE (O.S.) Hello?

They move down the hall.

Floorboards creeeeakand grooaaaan under them as they each take steps. As if any moment the floor might give way.

Which it will. But not yet.

The Losers look into the Bio-Hazard Bedrooms as they pass.

Nearing the Corner at the end of the Hall.

They listen.

To that slightestbzzzzzZZZZZZzzzzzZZZZZZzzzzzzZZZZZZ.

As they make the turn and -- oh, it’s --

ANOTHER HALLWAY

A nearby corroding PLUG the source of the buzz.

The Losers continue on

Fixated on That Door at the End of the Hallway.

But behind them,

SqueakSqueakSqueak...

They turn.

Shit.

Pennywise.

Pedaling an old, rusted tricycle.

Its front wheel bent.

SqueakSqueakSqueak...

He stops.

Right by the plug.

Losers press themselves up against the wall. Each grab hold of the other standing next to them.

Buries his face into Richie’s shoulder. Can’t look.

He LAUGHS. Eyes the children. Counting...

He inches forward, breathing in deep.

That plug SPARKS. Pennywise looks over at it.Ahem.

Spark BUZZES. Pennywise presses on, ignoring it.

BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

Pennywise stops. Considers the plug. He pulls out the TINIEST SCREWDRIVER EVER from his coat.

Kneels and tightens the plug screws. But the buzzing continues. But then --light bulb! -- a better idea.

From his sleeve, Pennywise yanks out A BIGGER SCREWDRIVER. Like ridiculously big. Like it was bought at ACME.

And this --

HE JAMS INTO THE SOCKET.

Electricity surges through Pennywise. His collar smokes. Hair catches fire. He laughs, maniacal.

An EXPLOSION of SPARKS, revealing --

Pennywise has transformed into a gruesome creature. His bulging eyes big but his toothy demonic grin even bigger.

He LUNGES for the kids. They SCREAM and scatter.

As they run, the floor gives out behind them. Below is just a pit of blackness. It divides the Group from --

EDDIE

Teetering on the edge, he turns. About to fall in. But a HAND reaches out and grabs him. Pulls him upright.

Eddie relieved.

Until he looks down at the hand holding him -- oozing with open sores -- and we PAN UP to reveal it’s the hand of --

Eddie faints.

Falls.

Through the hole.

We go with him, landing hard somewhere in blackness.

His arm SNAPS.

He SCREAMS.

ABOVE HIM,

Beverly trips and her lantern rolls off the edge.

Lands beside Eddie.

Light still on, illuminating the

KITCHEN

Windows blacked out with tinfoil and newspaper.

Eddie Tries to get to his feet but MORE DEBRIS falls on top of him. Pinning him down by the old, busted REFRIGERATOR.

UPSTAIRS HALLWAY

The Losers SCRAMBLE, trying to find a way out. Monstrous Pennywise has disappeared. They realize --

IN THE KITCHEN

Using his good arm, Eddie tries to dig himself out from under the pile that has him pinned. Faster and faster as --

Refrigerator Door OPENS, revealing --

Pennywise.

Contorted into the impossibly small space. He unfolds and untangles himself from inside the refrigerator.

He straightens.

Reaches down and grabs hold of Richie’s Broken Arm.

Nearby, A DOOR OPENS.

An Orange glow pulsates inside, illuminating a set of stairs leading down to the Basement of Neibolt.

Nothing good happens down there.

Pennywise drags Eddie toward the Basement Door.

Eddie SCREAMS some more.

Behind them --

The Losers appear in the Kitchen.

United.

They grab hold of Eddie. Trying to pull him back from Pennywise. Pennywise opens his mouth, snarling.

Richie grabs Eddie’s Inhaler from his holster.

PUFFS the Inhaler in Pennywises’ Face. The Clown SCREECHES. Like it’s burning through his skin. He lets go of Eddie.

Allowing the Losers to pull Eddie away as Mike throws the Fence Post at Pennywise. SPIKES him in the chest.

The Losers haul ass back into the Living Room.

Richie’s pulled out and the kids stumble through the sunflowers to their bikes. Away from Neibolt, the whole house seeming to laugh at them from behind...

As Eddie balances himself on Ben’s bike, Ben looks over. Sees Beverly wrapping her arms around Bill as they ride together.

Mrs. Kaspbrak shoves Eddie into the back seat, hysterical.

She slams the door on Eddie and fumbles for her keys.

Mrs. Kaspbrack pulls out all sorts of garbage from her purse until she finds the keys, dropping them.

She smacks Beverly away.

She jumps into the front seat and turns the engine.

She slams the door and the car squeals out of the driveway. Bill and the kids stand all rag tag there, low and shaken.

Bill, Richie, Beverly, Stanley, Ben and Mike walk along.

Ouch. Burn. Ben.

A deep cut. Richie moves to go. Bill blocks him.

They start shoving each other. Shoves turn to punches. A pounding of pent up anger, pent up fear. Bill lands a heavy blow and Richie falls to the ground hard.

He gets up. His face stings red.

Richie and Bill start to go at it again but Mike and Ben step in to separate them. Ben checks Bill to the pavement.

Beverly pushes Ben away.

She drops to Bill’s side. Ben is crushed.

He and Stanley help Richie up.

Richie, Ben and Stanley go. Bill looks to Beverly and Mike. Mike splits off from them too.

He walks away. Leaving only Bill and Bev.

Warehouse Row. City Center. Memorial Park. A LONE PATROL CAR creeps down West Broadway, passing the Synagogue.

Stanley is reaching the Dvar Torah part of his Bar Mitzvah ceremony, nervously finishing a verse from a scroll.

He glances up at his mom, who refuses to smile. At Richie seated in the back. And then at the Rabbi. Who nods:Go on..

His eyes fall on the empty seats next to Richie. Rattles him.

A SHEEP stands in its pen. Separated from its flock. Leroy hands Mike the Stunbolt Gun. Like,let’s try this again...

Mike aims the Stunbolt.Whompf. Sheep falls dead.

Beverly brushes her hair. Her eyes spot the smallest fleck of blood on one of the tiles. She can’t look away.

Will sits at the dinner table. Eating alone.

Ben looks up at a PAINTING of the First Derry Settlement. At first it appears like the Fur Trappers are on the hunt, lying in the prone position. But closer inspection reveals --

They’re dead. Because Whatever they were hunting found them instead. And as we PUSH IN on that WELLHOUSE we CUT TO:

TITLE CARD over the PENOBSCOT RIVER:

AUGUST

Tilt down to the OVERHEAD shot of what we expect to be “Derry 1989”, but instead we see NOTHING, just the intersection of a stream and river and the surrounding wilderness, towering black pines as far as the eye can see.

This is Derry in --

1637

ABIGAIL, 19. Rushes in and SLAMS the door. As if trying to keep Satan himself out. She clutches her BABY to her breast.

Kneels by DYING EMBERS in the hearth. She blows on ‘em but a flame never catches. Her Baby starts to fuss...

She stops.

Realizes that the SMALL CANDLE CHANDELIER slowly spins above her. As if some unnatural force has caused its light to rotate around the room, like tiny primitive searchlights.

She hears something slithering in the gray shadows by the Well. Occasionally we catch glimpses of a BLACK SILHOUETTE.

Shifting its shape. As if trying to decide on a form.

Shape shifts again.

A beam of light passes, revealing PENNYWISE, naked, lithe, flesh pale and translucent, a half- formed imitation of a human, opens his maw full of large razor sharp teeth, dripping with saliva.

As the Tin Can spins clockwise, Pennywise moves counter around the room. Each time the light hits his face --

It’s different.

A Man. A Woman. A Beast. A Monster. Tim Curry.

His voice is guttural, unnatural.

The Baby SCREAMS. Pennywise smiles.

Abigail shuffles back.

Abigail looks down at her baby again. She’s shaking, doesn’t want to let go. Behind her, the Door OPENS.

A Little Boy, 6, asks --

Frightened by his mother, the Boy runs.

Abigail turns back to Pennywise. Wherever he may be now in the room. The light somehow seems to spin faster now.

She kisses her baby and sets it down. It BAWLS.

She turns away from the baby. Faces those dying embers. We keep on her face as they seem to begin GLOWING BRIGHTER AS --

OVER HER SHOULDER -- OUT OF FOCUS --

Pennywise crawls over to the Baby and starts to feast. SHARP CRY FROM THE BABY CUT OFF as we hear a CRUNCH.

Abigail continues to look into the BRIGHT ORANGE GLOW of not the flickering fire...

...but the DEADLIGHTS.

Her expression changing. Fear. Denial. Grief. Acceptance. And then nothing. Just a glazed look.

AS IF NOTHING HORRIFIC IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING BEHIND HER.

BLAM! Of a gun.

A bottle of Southern Comfort sits on a log.

Travis shoots at it with his dad’s police issue .45. Victor and Snatch look on, giggling.

He finally tags it, the bottle shattering into a thousand pieces. They all whoop and holler.

He reaches for the gun. Bowers pushes him back.

Travis points to the cat that’s lounging there in the grass.

Snatch grabs the kitty and runs out to the stump. He wipes away the glass and sets the cat down. It starts to meow and tries to get away.

Bower lines up a shot, sight of the barrel on the cat. Finger pressing the trigger-

Officer Bowers steps from his police cruiser in the driveway. His face as red as fire.

He stalks up and grabs the gun from Travis. Smells it.

WHAP! He smacks Travis hard in the face, knocking the big boy to the grass. Butch turns the gun on Travis at his feet.

BLAM!

He shoots the ground around Travis’ feet. Travis squeals like a girl, utterly terrified. BLAM! BLAM! A large wet stain spreads around his crotch. Butch Bowers raises the pistol, as if he were about to whip Travis, who falls to the ground.

Butch shakes his head.

He spits out his disgust, stalks inside.

BELLS RING --

-- above the door as Eddie enters, his arm still in a cast. He sees Greta at the Cash Register reading a SEVENTEEN MAGAZINE. She watches him, amused. Because she’s bored.

Eddie nods. Mr. Keene sighs and disappears in the back. Once they’re alone --

Eddie looks around. She talking to me?

Eddie looks down at his cast. White. Plain. And yeah, sad.

Greta leans on the counter. Casts a quick look over to the back counter. Where her father could appear any minute.

Greta shakes her head. This kid just doesn’t get it...

Eddie looks over as Mr. Keene comes back with his Medication.

Ringggg.... Rinnggg....

Rrrrrrin--

Beverly picks up the phone.

Beverly smiles. But still --

INTERCUT:

Bill stands at his desk. Below him through the floorboards, we can just make out his parents arguing.

Bill doesn’t answer. Doesn’t need to...

As they talk, we drift out of the Bedroom and down the Hallway and into the

KITCHEN

To find Mr. Marsh listening on the other line.

He hangs up.

Travis does everything he can not to cry.

An odd wind stirs through the grass there, a yellow menacing gathering of clouds overhead. Travis suddenly notices...

A BALLOON, bobbing over his mailbox, string connected to something stuffed inside.

Travis pushes past his two cronies and goes over to the mailbox. Inside he pulls out THE RAMBO KNIFE. The one he lost at the beginning.

A murderous look screws onto Travis’ face as he turns his attention to his house. And his Dad inside. Travis snaps the string and starts toward the front door with the knife.

The Balloon rises up.

Beverly stands in front of the mirror, buttoning up her shirt. Freezes when she sees behind her --

Creeeeeeaaaak.

Of her Bedroom Door as it opens. In the reflection, she can see her Father standing at the threshold.

Mr. Marsh enters the room.

Mr. Marsh sits on the edge of her bed.

She reluctantly goes over. Gives him a kiss. He snatches her wrist as she pulls away.

She tries to go, but he holds on to her wrist.

He squeezes harder. It begins to hurt.

He jerks her closer to him, proprietary.

He pulls out Ben’s Postcard.

He looks at her legs.

Beverly tries to resist.

Bev wrestles away, falling back and smacking her head on the floor. She starts crabbing away on her back down the hall.

Her dad lunges on top of her.

MR. MARSH, Them little boys, Bevvie. Do they know you’re my --

Bev knees him in the balls. Her father lets go, crumpling down. She kicks him in the face as hard as she can, his head flying back into the side of the door.

Beverly tries to race out the door but he snatches her ankle and she trips into the hallway. By the time she is up he is already charging after her. She stumbles back into the

BATHROOM

and shuts the door, trying to lock herself inside. He kicks the door open before the lock catches.

Without thinking Bev grabs the toilet top and smashes it in her dad’s crown. He slumps down. Unconscious. Suddenly --

From the Faucet. From the Shower. Between cracks in the tile.

BLOOD.

Gushes everywhere.

Beverly runs back into the

HALLWAY

Pennywise stands there. Balloons in hand. Beverly realizes she has nowhere to go. Pennywise releases the balloons. They float up and POP!POP!POP!as they hit the ceiling.

BLOOD bursting out of them.

The front door creaks open, Victor and Snatch poking their heads in...

Nothing. They see a streak of blood on the floor that leads to the KITCHEN and Butch Bowers on the linoleum floor in a red pool, stabbed dozens of times.

Victor vomits.

The cat slips in and starts licking up the blood.

Snatch continues on into the LIVING ROOM where he finds TRAVIS sitting in Butch’s favorite Lazy-boy in front of the TV, which is turned on to PENNYWISE THE CLOWN SHOW.

He holds the knife, slicked in blood, his eyes glazed. He turns and looks at Snatch and Victor in the doorway.

On his bike, Bill makes endless figure eights. He keeps looking in the same direction. Waiting for Beverly. He checks his watch. Makes a decision.

Bill sees the Front Door ajar. Pushes it open, revealing all the blood. And Mr. Marsh. Knocked out on the floor.

Searching... searching...

Inside

BEVERLY’S BEDROOM

Right above her bed. Scrawled in blood.

YOU’LL DIE IF YOU TRY!

Bill races out of the room.

CUT TO THE:

FINAL FIGHT.

The side-scrolling Arcade Game, I mean.

Richie plays, kicking and punching away his frustration as he progresses through the game. We’re inside the

ARCADE

Richie is at the ‘FINAL BOSS BATTLE’.

Bill races over as the Final Boss Fight BEGINS.

Richie looks at Bill, a moment between them.

Richie and Bill leave. As we pan back to FINAL FIGHT to find Richie’s Player ‘CODY’ getting the shit kicked out of him. Hope that isn’t a sign of things to come.

Probably is, though.

Eddie on the phone with Richie --

He hangs up. Stares at himself in the mirror. Can he do this? He can do this. About to go --

But Mrs. Kaspbarak enters. Licks her fingers clean of whatever she was eating earlier. Probably lots of things.

He goes over to his closet. Pulls out the Plastic Bag he got at the Pharmacy. Dumps out all the untouched medication.

Mrs. Kaspbrak. Horrified at the sight.

Eddie stops. Realizes:

Charges past her and down the stairs. She stands at the top, the bulk of her threatening to tumble down.

But Eddie does. Eddie leaves.

The Losers reunited. Save for one. The serious nature of their task weighs on ‘em. Richie sees Mike’s Stunbolt.

Bill nods.

OVER BLACK,

An old DOO-WOP RECORD plays, amplified by distant and crummy speakers: You’re my love, you’re my angel, you’re the girl of my dream...

ON BEVERLY

Snaps awake. Where is she? Looks like --

A DARK TUNNEL

Made of rubble and rust.

I’d like to thank you for waiting patiently...

A noise. She turns. At the far end of the tunnel, a SHADOW OF MR. MARSH appears on the wall. Nightmarishly exaggerated.

Daddy’s home... Daddy’s home to stay...

Beverly stands. Fists clenched. Ready to go round two with her father. But then the record begins toslow down as the shadow morphs into --

A GIANT SPIDER.

Beverly scrambles the other way at the Spider’s Shadow continues to grow. She chances a look back and right when you think the Spider is about to turn the corner --

It’s Pennywise instead. Making SHADOW PUPPETS with his hands. He stops and points behind Beverly --so scared is he --

She spins and sees Pennywise right in her face.

Beverly falls back, out of reach. He approaches, towering over her. Sharp Teeth bared as she cowers. But wait. He stops. Something is off. But what?

CLOSE ON: Beverly’s hand. Fingers curled around rock.

WHACK!

She SMACKS him across the face with the stone. Knocks Pennywise aside and takes off running.

Pennywise rises up. Filled with rage.

The Boys drop their bikes on the lawn. They stare at the house that looms before them. This is It.

As they walk up toward their probable deaths, they fail to notice Vic’s Trans Am appear at the end of Neibolt.

Creeping along, like a lion in tall grass.

Travis slows to a stop.

He looks over at Victor in the Passenger Seat and Belch in the back. They’re both dead. Throats slit into gaping grins.

Front Door opens. Stirs the dimness and dust. They enter.

He looks over at Eddie. Still at the threshold. Rattled.

Eddie looks past Bill and into the house. Then meets Bill’s eyes. Nods. And then enters.

Still running and scrambling, Beverly rounds a sharp corner and steps into what Uncle Stevie calls --

THE MACROVERSE

I know it sounds expensive but it isn’t. Picture an ENDLESS FIELD OF BLACK. Like space. Or death. Beverly looks behind her. No way to turn back. Has to push forward.

As the boys investigate further, the house wheezes with its creaks and groans. Like it’s been disturbed from sleep.

BANG! BANG! From the

KITCHEN

Boys hurry in. SomethingBANG!BANG!BANGS! against the Basement Door from the other side. Bill rushes over.

He tries to open the door. But it’s stuck in its frame. The Others come over to help and --BANG! -- it flies open. Boys fall back. A DOZEN RED BALLOONS float out from the Basement and into the Kitchen. Nothing beyond.

Bill gets to his feet. Deep breath.

He steps down into the void. Richie, Eddie and Stanley follow right behind him. Stairs shake and wobble with each step.

ON BILL

He steps off the stairs --splish! -- and finds himself stepping into inches of water. Because now he’s inside the

SEWER

Intestinal. Exaggerated. Like they were constructed by a child’s dark imagination. Bill looks back for the others. But they’re gone. Along with the basement stairs.

Richie, Stanley, Eddie, Ben and Mike steps off into the basement. But no sign of Bill. He’s vanished.

Bill searches for a way out. Trying to remain calm, trying to remain brave -- repeating over and over again --

A SHADOW passes over him. Bill stops.

Bill looks up. Sees Pennywise smiling at Bill through a Sewer Grate. Blood drips from his teeth and down onto Bill.

Bill swallows down his fear, stands his ground. Pennywise drools, deciding...

He laughs and steps away. Off Bill’s ‘oh shit’ look --

The Boys search the shadows of the basement for Bill. Somehow it seems more sprawling than the house above them.

Near Eddie. A ‘did I just hear that?’ WHISPER --

Eddie turns. Where’d that come from?

He creeps further into shadow. Stops. Senses something off. Looks down at his feet as the floor opens up under him.

He drops into a

SMALL ROOM

Like we’re inside a tumor. Walls made of SCABS and SCARS. Floor cobbled with WARTS and ULCERS. Eddie groans.

Behind him, the Hobo appears and grabs him.

Eddie SCREAMS.

Ben turns, realizing --

They move toward the stairs. But Travis appears at the top. He starts to descend. Blood-caked Knife in hand.

Ben turns. Searches for a way out. Finds a Rotted Piece of Plywood blocking the bottom of a rusted COAL CHUTE.

The Others race over. As Travis steps off the stairs, Mike guards the chute with the Stunbolt as the other squeeze themselves in and up --

Mike crawls in. But the Others aren’t yet out.

Mike ducks back out of the Chute. And faces his nemesis.

Beverly continues through the thick fog of suffocating blackness. Sticks to her like cobwebs. She stops. Sees a FLICKERING CAMPFIRE in the distance illuminating --

A DECREPIT 19TH-CENTURY CIRCUS WAGON.

The same we saw in a daguerreotype of the Old Ironworks in the Libary. Its peeling billboard promises“PENNYWISE THE DANCING CLOWN!” Tattered children’s clothes, toys, and bones are scattered all around its small painted wooden wheels.

From the WELL nearby, she hears --

She races over to the Well. Looks inside and sees a GLOWING ORANGE LIGHT. Its dim but the longer we look, the brighter it gets... Beverly tries to back away but --

ClankSnap! ClankSnap!Chains WHIP OUT and WRAP around her. Holds her there. She can’t look away. Her face goes slack.

Bill runs through the sewers. Desperate. Up ahead, he hears Eddie SCREAMING. He races in the direction of his howls.

Stops at a Derry Public Works MAINTENANCE DOOR. Keep out. Bill looks through the small grated window to see --

The Hobo wrangling Eddie. His Hand of Disease smothering Eddie’s mouth as Eddie hyperventilates. Or tries to.

Seeing Bill, Eddie’s eyes go wide. Like a surge of life just rushed through him. He relaxes -- takes a moment -- then --

CHOMP! Eddie BITES into the gooey flesh of the Hobo. Stunned, Hobo releases and Eddie scrambles to the Door. But he slips on the muck and disgusting on his way over. Gets up.

Finds the Hobo blocking his way out.

Eddie balls his hand into a fist. And then SMASHES it right into the Hobo’s stomach. His fist travels through the blood and guts until it comes out the other side and --

Grabs the knob. Eddie opens the door as he pushes the Hobo aside and runs into the

SEWER

And collapses into Bill’s arms. He spits out bits of flesh.

Travis SWIPES at Mike with the Knife. Mike dodges it, but slips and falls back. Stunbolt rolls away.

He picks Mike up. Throws him against the wall. Brick chunks fall, crashing through termite-infested wood, revealing --

The Well.

Stanley, Richie and Ben climb. Flinching as the hear the BANGS of the brawl between Mike and Travis.

At the top of the chute, Stanley pushes open the Access Door. Crawls out first, followed by Richie and Stanley.

They stand, finding themselves in the

MACROVERSE

Ben spots something in the distance. The flickering flames of a campfire. Illuminating a Circus Wagon. And look, there’s --

Yes, Ben. It’s her. Kneeling by the Well. That Orange Glow inside getting brighter... Brighter...

The Boys race over to Beverly. Try to shake her out of the trance but it’s no use...

He’s about to look inside but Ben stops him.

Stanley looks over at the Circus Wagon.

He races over, entering into the

CIRCUS WAGON

Dusty old carnival show lights flicker on inside, illuminating the creepy decaying interior. In the corner, Stanley sees a WOOD AX. He moves toward it but --

VOICE (O.S.) Come to float, Stanley?

Stanley stops. Terrified.

Emerging from the shadows isJUDITH. From the Painting in the Rabbi’s Office. Naked. Skin stained red with the blood of Holofernes. Like she bathed in it.

Stanley averts his eyes.

Paint drips off of her, streaking parts of her into abstract deformity. Hinting at a gruesome layer underneath.

She wipes her arm across her face, clearing away some of the dripping wet paint. Smile smearing into a clownish grin.

She lunges on top of Stanley. He falls, knocking his head hard on the floor. Blacks out. Judith about to feed as --

Richie rushes in. Doesn’t see Judith. Just Stanley passed out on the floor. He goes over --

Can’t help but look at his clownish surroundings. Circus Posters. Creepy Clown Figurines. Clown Paintings.

A tune begins:

All around the mulberry bush, the monkey chased the weasel, the monkey thought it was all in good sport...

Richie looks over. Sees a JACK-IN-THE-BOX. A familiar clown painted on the side. Its handle slowly turns and --

Pop!

Richie flinches. We all do. But nothing happens. In fact, the handle begins to turn again. Song starts over.

Mike. On the floor. Trying to get to his feet. But the pain and the fear, it’s starting to get the better of him.

Ooomf! Travis KICKS him again while he’s down.

The Orange Glow reflecting off of Beverly’s Face is ever brighter. Like it might start to burn her.

Bill leads Eddie as they run. This way. That way.

An intersection. Bill stops. Unsure. Until he sees at the end one tunnel, an ORANGE GLOW dimming the darkness.

He runs toward the glow. Getting brighter as they get closer.

...the monkey thought it was all in good sport... POP! Goes the weasel...

Nothing happens. Again. Richie tries to pull Stanley toward the door. But the dead weight, so heavy.

At the door of defeat, Ben hugs Bev. Doesn’t want her to go through this alone. And in the first moment of passion in his life, he kisses her. Something inside of Beverly -- the light of life, maybe -- flickers.

He squeezes her tighter until it’s broken by --

They look over as Bill and Richie runs toward them.

...the Monkey chases the weasel... The Monkey thought it was all in good fun....It stops. For an eternity, feels like.

Richie lets go of Stanley. He might run. And then --

PENNYWISE leaps out.

Richie SCREAMS.

Pennywise -- as if mounted to a spring -- leans over Richie, ready to feed off the fear. Richie too scared to move.

But as Pennywise gets nose to nose with Richie, his face morphs from flesh to the PLASTIC SKIN OF A TOY CLOWN.

Hands grab Richie. He turns, freaking out. But --

And as Stanley starts coming back to consciousness...

...Bill, Eddie and Richie help him out of the wagon. Nearby, Ben tries to free Beverly from her chains.

Richie, Eddie and Stanley rush over to help. But Bill catches sight of somethingrunning away from them in the distance.

A Small Figure in a Yellow Rain Slicker.

He takes off.

But Bill doesn’t have time to wait. He races deeper into the darkness, chasing after his little brother.

Mike is on his knees. Wobbly. Travis approaches with the Stunbolt in one hand as he drags the Compressed Air Cannister along the floor behind him. Travis presses the pistol right against Mike’s glabella.You know what that is.

Mike looks at Travis. Like he’s given up. But then --

Mike grabs Travis. Holds him tight as he pulls him back and they both disappear down into the Well and we fall with them.

INTO THE WELL

Mike tumbles, like a lost sock. Catches sight of Travis falling further below, the Stunbolt beyond him.

And then he sees it.

The Perfect Bright Orange Circle below. The Losers -- his friends -- surrounding it...

SPARKS! As Richie snaps the chains around Beverly with the Ax. Now free, she stands up and gives Ben a hug --

CLANK!

They look over as the Stunbolt rolls off the edge of the well and stops at Eddie’s feet.

SCREAMING.

As Travis falls from above into the Bright Orange Lights. Falling fast behind him is Mike. He hits the edge of --

THE WELL

Ouch. Grabs it. But slipping fast.

Beverly dives over and grabs onto him to help. The Others all join in and start to pull Mike to safety as --

Skitter... skitter... skitter...

Up the side of the wall, a Melted Mess of Hands appear. Grab onto Mike’s ankle. Pulling him down into the Dead Lights.

Afraid, Mike tries to kick ‘em off. But he’s losing the battle. Gathers his strength. And courage.

Punctuates each word with a kick. And with the final one, the hardest one, the hands fall away. Mike is free.

And is pulled to safety. But the safety is fleeting as the ground under their feet TREMORS. Like it’s the start of something big...

Bill stops. Looks that way. No Georgie. This way. Uh-uh.

He squints. Sees something approach. Coming at himfast.Is it...? Is that Geo--

PENNYWISE.

Like freight train at full speed, charges into Bill and picks him up by his collar. Shoves him against a wall that only just now appeared behind him.

Pennywise. Bill. Face. To Freakish, Fanged Face.

Flecks of flesh hit Bill in the face as he says this.

In the blackness, they hear the Losers’ calling out for Bill. The Tremors find their way to Bill and Pennywise. Confused, Pennywise looks down at the ground. What’s happening? He looks back up at Bill.

ON PENNYWISE. That word.Starve. It lights a spark in his eyes we haven’t seen before as it resonates in the ancestral cave of his mind like a chain reaction in a firework factory. Belief has turned against him. And probably for the first time in millenniums, it grips his heart. Whatever that is.

Pennywise drops Bill.

And retreats into the darkness.

THE OTHER LOSERS. In the darkness. Holding their torches high, searching for their leader.

Up ahead,

They run, shouting. Tremors turn to QUAKES. It’s like the whole universe is about to collapse around them.

There. Up ahead. On his knees. She helps him to his feet.

Bill nods. Even though he isn’t.

Bill grabs the Stunbolt from Mike and heads off into the

QUAKING DARKNESS

The Losers hunt Pennywise. With every encounter, It takes on one of their Fears. Headless Child. Judith. Hand Creature.

And each Loser steps up and confront It.

Throwing their torches at It -- letting go of their Fears -- causing It to retreat into the blackness. Until only Bill’s Torch remains. In its flickering light, they catch the faintest glimpses of Pennywise.

Circling around them.

Psssh! Bill’s TORCH extinguishes. Leaving the Losers huddled in the darkness.

THIN SHAFTS OF LIGHT appear. Like the sun shining through a sewer grate, almost heavenly as they illuminate --

Georgie. In his rain slicker. Holding his Paper Boat.

Bill hesitates.

Bill unsure. So badly wants to believe.

He turns. Sees Beverly. With the rest of the Losers. He faces back to Georgie. Holding his arms out to Bill:Hug me...

Bill takes a step forward to Georgie. And he raises his arms. But not too hug him because he has in his hands --

The Stunbolt.

Georgie turns to --

Pennywise. Razor teeth. Ready to lunge.

BLAM!

Stunbolt goes off.

Hits Pennywise right between the eyes.

His face RIPPLES, like a rock hitting the surface of a lake. A CONCENTRICAL NIGHTMARE with petals of HORROR that BLOSSOM then WITHER away. The history of Derry’s Fears flash and form before their eyes, a thousand nightmares conjured by the imaginations of Derry’s lost and eaten children. IT is wreath of Screaming Hands. IT is the Rotting Flesh of Disease. IT is the Fangs of a Predator. IT is a Crown of Bloody Thorns. IT is the Floral Ring at Georgie’s Memorial soaked in blood. IT is a Mouth That Screams Inside a Mouth That Screams Inside a Mouth That Screams Inside.... IT is... IT is... IT is...

Until IT transforms back into a slithering, shapeless mass and slinks its way back to the Well.

The Losers chase.

And as It disappears down to the bottom, we catch one last glimpse of Pennywise’s Face. And he looks afraid. As the Darkness brightens...

It isn’t.

And the Losers find themselves in the

BASEMENT

The seven of them.

Together.

In the corner of the basement, Bill spots a dirty, wet patch of YELLOW. He walks over and pulls at it, revealing --

Georgie’s Rain Slicker.

Bill falls to his knees and starts to cry. Months of pent up anger and grief, he lets it all out. The Other Losers walk over and surround him, a circle of love and friendship.

Bodies of children disgorge from the sewer pipe the Losers’ found Dorsey’s shoe in, into a swollen stream. It’s hard at first to distinguish who is who, everyone is covered in mud.

Among them, a body blinks and sits up. It’s Travis.

TITLE CARD:

SEPTEMBER

A GLASS SHARD glistens in the sun. A hand picks it up. Beverly’s. She walks back to the group.

She hands the SHARD to Bill, who SLASHES her PALM with it. One by one the others approach, Bill slashing everyone’s palms, does his own last before --

They all clasp hands and lock eyes.

A BLOOD OATH IS SWORN.

Bill finishes up packing. Zach pops his head in.

Bill nods.

Zach throws down a paper on Bill’s bed. Travis and his dad under the caption“SON ADMITS MURDERS, SAYS MY DADDY MADE ME DO IT.”

He goes. Bill looks at the ceiling, water stain now gone. Still uneasy.

Bill packs his suitcase and looks out for his friends, someone to send him off. No one. His mom closes the truck and kisses him on the forehead. Still distant, but trying.

They pull out and Bill looks ahead, now wishing he could stay with his friends. As they pass Witcham and Jackson Bill glances out at the infamous storm drain.

Then he notices behind him one, two, three, four, five, six HUFFY BIKES swing out into the road, chasing him. Ben, Bev, Richie, Mike, Stanley and Eddie all peddle like mad after him waving goodbye.

Bill waves goodbye and puts his hand against the glass as they drive away, the swarm of bikes trying to keep up behind, until finally, turning a corner...

His friends are gone from sight.

As Bill’s wagon drives off we RISE UP UP UP over Bill’s neighborhood, then HIGH OVER DERRY and the rivers and all black pines as far as the eye can see, until we come to...

A floating RED BALLOON

It POPS!

The End