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It (2017) - BASED ON THE WORKS OF STEPHEN KING

February 5, 2026·1 hr 2 min·4 clips
He says the book includes a group sex scene among the Losers Club, and the movie replaces it with the kids cutting their hands.
1. All2ReelToo's episode centers on the 2017 film It and its Stephen King source material. 2. Michael E. Cullen II hosts the discussion, and the co-host Sesame Gazipos in Carta reacts with clown jokes, movie memories, and adaptation questions. 3. The episode asks what It changes from King's novel and why the 2017 movie works as a horror adaptation. 4. Michael E. Cullen II says the film is set in 1989 and is "an adaptation of a Stephen King book" with a different structure from the novel. 5. He names Andy Muschietti as director and also mentions The Flash, Mama, It Chapter Two, and Welcome to Derry in Muschietti's credits. 6. He lists Chase Palmer, Cary Joji Fukunaga, and Gary Dauberman as writers and connects them to Naked Singularity, No Time to Die, The Nun, and Annabelle Comes Home. 7. The cast rundown includes Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise, Jaden Martell as Bill Denborough, Finn Wolfhard as Richie Tozer, Sophia Lillis as Beverly Marsh, and Jackson Robert Scott as Georgie Denborough. 8. Michael E. Cullen II says the film moved the setting to the late 1980s, while King's book uses a different timeline and a dual-present-day structure. 9. He describes the book as splitting between adult memory and childhood flashback, while the film separates the kids' story into one part and the adults into chapter two. 10. The conversation compares the movie's handling of fear, abuse, and bullying to the way Stephen King's books often use genre material to frame deeper subjects. 11. Michael E. Cullen II says he liked the movie and first saw It as his introduction to the story. 12. He says the ending shifted for him because he was hoping Beverly would choose Ben. 13. He also says he expected that choice because the film follows familiar romance patterns and he identifies with the 'fat kid' role Ben plays. 14. A long discussion follows about Maturin the turtle, which he calls Pennywise's sibling and an ancient cosmic being in King's lore. 15. Michael E. Cullen II says King's version of the universe includes the turtle vomiting up creation, and he jokes that this comes from King's cocaine era. 16. He then explains why the film omits Maturin: a movie about child abuse and a killer clown would not easily support the full Dark Tower cosmology. 17. The hosts spend time on the book's controversial Beverly scene, then contrast it with the movie's hand-cutting ritual as a shared experience. 18. The episode stays conversational and digressive, moving from plot to Stephen King lore to personal reactions without a formal segment structure. 19. Listeners who like Stephen King adaptations, horror history, and cast breakdowns will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners who want a tight, spoiler-free review with no digressions may skip it.

As heard by us

A loose, funny conversation about It that keeps returning to the film's darkest turns.

All2ReelToo spends this episode with It (2017), and the discussion stays most alive when it leans into Pennywise, family abuse, and Beverly's memories.

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Why you'd press play

*Want a candid It (2017) talk that wrestles with the ugly parts?*

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →
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