The first IT movie is being released in a brand-new way later this summer.
After King published IT in 1986, the story was adapted as an ABC miniseries four years later, with Tim Curry playing the iconic villain Pennywise. It took another 27 years for the horror novel to get the big-screen treatment. Andy Muschietti directed 2017's IT, which starred Bill Skarsgård, Jaeden Martell, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, and Chosen Jacobs.
Cosm announced that 2017's IT will be released in its experiential Shared Reality venues in Los Angeles, Dallas, and Atlanta beginning August 28. Detroit's Cosm venue will release the film as well, but a launch date hasn't been revealed yet.
This comes after the immersive technology and entertainment company previously found success with re-releases of The Matrix, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, all Warner Bros. properties. IT will be the first time Cosm has debuted a horror experience.
Cosm's venues feature 87-foot-diameter, 12K+ LED domes with fulldome production technology, heightened sound design and dynamic environments to expand films beyond how they were originally viewed in theaters.
In a statement, Alexis Scalice, Cosm's Vice President of Business Development and Entertainment, said that the company's experiential cinema with Shared Reality introduces a "fresh" and "exciting" new way for fans to experience movies. For IT, Cosm and Warner Bros. are "taking horror beyond the frame, creating an immersive experience to deliver thrills unlike anything fans have experienced before."
Alexis Scalice: “Over the past year, we’ve seen experiential cinema in Shared Reality bring to life a fresh, exciting way for fans to interact with – and enter the worlds of – their favorite films. Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, Double Dream, and Little Cinema have all been incredible partners to help deliver IT as Cosm's fourth film in Shared Reality. Together, we are taking horror beyond the frame, creating an immersive experience to deliver thrills unlike anything fans have experienced before.”
Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. Pictures' President of Global Distribution, added that there was an "incredible audience response" to their previous Shared Reality presentations and explained, "each project has pushed the boundaries of how audiences experience these iconic films, and IT offers a uniquely thrilling opportunity to further that vision."
Jeff Goldstein: “After the incredible audience response to our previous Shared Reality presentations, we’re excited to continue this ongoing collaboration with Cosm and Little Cinema by bringing IT to this immersive format. Each project has pushed the boundaries of how audiences experience these iconic films, and IT offers a uniquely thrilling opportunity to further that vision – delivering a bold, sensory-rich way to engage with one of the most memorable New Line titles in the Warner Bros. Library.”
While Cosm and Warner Bros. didn't reveal what specific elements will be unique to this new release of IT, Little Cinema Chief Creative Officer Jay Rinsky teased that "every shadow, every silence and every red balloon" will be treated as a way to "invent something the medium hasn't seen yet."
Jay Rinsky: "Each title we've brought to Shared Reality together has taught us something new about how stories can wrap around an audience. The Matrix taught us to question reality itself, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory taught us wonder, and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone taught us magic. IT teaches us fear, and we're treating every shadow, every silence, and every red balloon as a chance to invent something the medium hasn't seen yet. It's been a privilege to evolve this format alongside entertainment pioneers such as Cosm, Warner Bros., and Double Dream."
Aside from The Matrix, Willy Wonka and Harry Potter, Cosm also screens Cirque du Soleil shows and sporting events via partnerships with WWE, the NFL, MLB, UFC, Premier League, NCAAF and the US Open.
After being released in theaters, IT received positive reviews and is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a critic score of 85%. At the box office, IT earned $719.76 million, becoming the highest-grossing horror movie ever.
Two years later, the sequel, IT Chapter Two, also directed by Muschietti, came out and grossed $473.1 million but got positive-to-mixed reviews and a 62% RT score compared to the first film.
Muschietti, his sister Barbara Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs expanded the horror franchise with the HBO prequel series IT: Welcome to Derry. The first season aired in 2025 and had one of the biggest premieres ever for HBO Max. Critically, Welcome to Derry earned positive reviews, with an 80% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
While HBO has not officially ordered IT: Welcome to Derry season 2 yet, the creative team is actively working on the story they want to tell going forward.
Until the series returns to the air, horror fans can revisit the first IT film as they've never experienced it before at Cosm locations across the country.
It
- Release Date
- September 8, 2017
- Runtime
- 135 minutes
- Director
- Andy Muschietti
Cast
-
Pennywise -
Beverly Marsh
WHERE TO WATCH
In the film It, a group of seven children in a small Maine town, known as The Losers Club, confronts various life challenges, including bullies and a malevolent entity. The creature, which takes on the guise of a clown named Pennywise, becomes the focus of their courageous battle.
- Writers
- Cary Joji Fukunaga, Gary Dauberman, Chase Palmer
- Producers
- David Katzenberg, Roy Lee, Seth Grahame-Smith, Bárbara Muschietti, Dan Lin
- Franchise(s)
- IT
- Main Genre
- Horror
- Executive Producer(s)
- Doug Davison, Marty P. Ewing, Richard Brener, Toby Emmerich, Walter Hamada
- Budget
- $35 million
- Studio(s)
- Warner Bros. Pictures, Sony
- Distributor(s)
- Warner Bros. Pictures, Lionsgate, 20th Century, Sony
