How many movies have been made based on Stephen King's 'It'?

How many movies have been made based on Stephen King's It?


It has been adapted twice for filmed audio-visual media. The first filmed version of It was a TV limited series; the second was a duology of theatrically-released movies. 

The first adaptation of Stephen King’s 1986 doorstop of a novel was a 1990 adaptation made as a two-part ABC miniseries for television. Among the cast members: Tim Reid, Harry Anderson, Annette O’Toole, John Ritter, and Richard Thomas. The miniseries also featured Tim Curry as the evil Pennywise the Clown.

Adapted for television by director Tommy Lee Wallace and Lawrence D. Cohen (who also adapted King’s Carrie for director Brian De Palma in 1976), It was okay but a watered-down take on the scary novel about a group of friends who must face off against a monstrous entity known as “It” twice. Once as kids in 1960, then again as adults in 1990. (Like 11,22.63, the TV version of It avoids the year 1958, which is where parts of 11/22/63 and It are both set.)

The miniseries did well in the Nielsen ratings when it aired in 1990, but it fell short of fans’ expectations. It wasn’t terrible, mind you. The scenes where the kids were featured were pretty good. And the 1990 parts didn’t suck…until the climax of the miniseries, anyway. The effects were mediocre, and the ending was less impressive than the book’s.

In 2017, Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema released the first installment of director Andy Muschietti's updated duology, IT: Chapter One. This version is the first of two films in a duology and is closer to the themes in King’s novel than the mini was. It changes things up a bit by changing the Losers’ Club childhood years to the 1980s rather than sticking the late Fifties era of the novel, but since it’s a feature film, it can delve a bit more into the scary parts of King’s It while making the tale a bit more contemporary.

In September of 2019, Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema completed Muschietti's adaptation with the release of IT: Chapter Two. In the film, 27 years have elapsed since the members of the Losers' Club confronted and defeated the murderous entity known as "It"/Pennywise the Clown. but now their adult versions have to face their deadly nemesis again. 

Technically, then, three films based on It have been made:

• Stephen King's It
• IT: Chapter One
• IT: Chapter Two