- In order to prepare for his role as Henry Bowers, Nicholas Hamilton studied Jarred Blancard’s performance as Bowers in the 1990 IT miniseries.
- In the novel, Ben was the one who came up with the phrase, “beep, beep, Richie,” whenever they needed Richie to shut up. In the film, Pennywise is the only one who says the phrase, but he uses it to taunt Richie as opposed to silencing him.
- Bill Skarsgård stated that Pennywise’s makeup initially took 5 hours to apply. However, after doing it a few times, the makeup artists were able to narrow down the time to just 2 hours.
- James Ransone auditioned for a role in this film. He didn’t get it, but he ended up playing adult Eddie in IT: Chapter 2.
- Much like his character, Finn Wolfhard also has a fear of clowns.
- Judith the Flute Lady almost was cut from the film because she wasn’t “scary enough.” Andy Muschietti fought to keep her in though, insisting that she was intended to be more bizarre and discomforting than scary.
- Sophia Lillis previously studied Andy Muschietti’s work in acting school before auditioning for the role of Beverly Marsh.
- In an extended scene where Eddie is refilling his prescription, Andy Muschietti has a small cameo in the background.
- In a deleted scene, it is revealed that Henry Bowers killed the rest of his gang after killing his father. In the novel and 1990 miniseries, Pennywise was the one who killed Henry’s gang.
- There was a funny “what if” gag featuring Georgie and Pennywise in the sewer. In it, Georgie grabbed his boat from Pennywise, said “see you later” and left Pennywise disappointed and cussing.
- For the final battle with Pennywise, Finn Wolfhard was the one who suggested Pennywise vomited. He wanted Pennywise to vomit on Richie considering nothing really bad happens to Richie or he doesn’t really get harmed by Pennywise before the big battle. Andy Muschietti considered it, but he felt that it would be more fitting for Eddie to get vomited on, considering Eddie was the germaphobe.
- Sophia Lillis almost didn’t get the role of Beverly. The reason being was that the producers claimed she “wasn’t girly enough” due to her pixie haircut and short stature. She proved them wrong in her second audition when she showed up with hair extensions and a dress. She got the role mainly on the condition that she kept the extensions. Once filming began though, Andy Muschietti had her character cut off her hair in her first bathroom scene.
- When Ben is in the library reading about the Easter explosion, an old woman can be seen looking at him and smiling a big toothy grin. It’s been theorized that it is Pennywise, watching Ben’s fear rise as he sees a boy’s decapitated head in one of the books.
- At the end of the movie, when the Losers depart after the blood oath, the order that they leave is the order that they die or are injured in the novel. Stanley leaves first and he commits suicide after hearing about Pennywise’s return. Eddie is the second to leave and he is killed by Pennywise during the final confrontation. Mike is the third to leave, and although not in IT: Chapter 2, Mike is severely injured by Henry Bowers in the novel.
- Andy Muschietti intentionally changed the various forms that Pennywise takes for this film. He did this to surprise audiences, even the people who read the book and seen the miniseries.
- There’s one scene in the novel that’s never been in any adaptation – the death of Eddie Corcoran. Eddie was a boy who ran away from home to escape his abusive father. He got caught up in a storm where Pennywise taunted him in the form of his dead brother. Pennywise then takes the form of a sea creature and ripped Eddie’s head off. Some readers were so disturbed by this scene, they even stated that it’s scarier than Georgie’s death scene.
- When Georgie loses his boat, one of the things he says is “Bill’s gonna kill me.” This is ironic because Pennywise, who kills Georgie, is played by Bill Skarsgård.
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