IT director Andy Muschietti has revealed that another horror legend almost made it into the movie.
Those who have seen the film, or at least read Stephen King's novel, will know that IT takes the shape of whatever the character facing it fears most, and in the original novel – which is set in the 1950s – this included relevant monsters from that time period.
Seeing as the new movie was set 30 years later in the '80s, Muschietti toyed with the idea of introducing what monsters the kids of the time would have been scared of.
And that had to be Freddy Krueger, right?
A Nightmare on Elm Street burst onto screens in 1985, spawning a legion of sequels and spin-offs and terrifying kids for generations to come.
And, for Muschietti, it was very tempting to bring Freddy into the movie to add that authentic '80s feel, although he later decided against it.
"Obviously we considered that for a bit, but I wasn't too interested in bringing Freddy Krueger into the mix," he told The Wrap.
"It's distracting and it didn't feel right, for some reason. I wanted to bring fears that were a little more layered and related to childhood trauma and more surprising in general."
Another reason he was unwilling to bring Robert Englund's iconic baddie into the Stephen King universe is because of the shared background of both film franchises.
Both IT and A Nightmare on Elm Street were released by production company New Line (which is now owned by Warner Bros but wasn't at the time Elm Street came out).
"I thought it was a bit too meta with New Line involved in the film," he added.
