After a very long search that looked at a wide variety of actors, the upcoming remake of Stephen King’s It has found its new Pennywise the Clown. And, you can keep guessing for a very long time, because we’re pretty sure you’ll never figure out who it is.

Will Poulter, the baby-faced young actor who starred in both We’re the Millers and The Maze Runner, is in negotiations to star in the film for director Cary Fukunaga (True Detective). Surprising? Well, initially he wasn't even on Fukunaga’s radar. The production had previously looked at older actors like Mark Rylance and Ben Mendelsohn, the latter of whom chose to star in Star Wars: Rogue One instead. But, as Warner Bros. executives were watching the dailies for Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu’s The Revenant, they suggested Poulter to Fukunaga who was “blown away” by the 22-year-old’s audition.

Will Poulter, the new Pennywise the Dancing Clown
Will Poulter, the new Pennywise the Dancing Clown
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It would be hard for any actor to follow in the footsteps of Tim Curry, who turned in such an unforgettable performance (in an otherwise completely forgettable movie) in the 1991 made-for-TV film. It should be even harder for Poulter, who is known to audiences in roles that would never lead you to believe he could play a psychotic, murderous clown-demon. He’s got a punky, sorta bully vibe to him and a villain wouldn’t seem like a stretch, but an evil demonic entity that predates human life on earth?

The current plan for the film is to shoot It (which is based on King’s 1,138-page novel) in two parts: one focusing on the main human characters as kids, and another later as adults. The films would be shot concurrently but released as two separate movies.

Fukunaga is directing from a script he co-wrote with Chase Palmer.

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