The 'It' movie originally had another script — here are 15 ways it could have been different

Warner Bros.

When "It" hit theaters earlier this month, it arrived with a screenplay credited to Cary Fukunaga, Chase Palmer, and Gary Dauberman.

Those first two names are a vestige of an earlier incarnation of the movie, which was primed to be Fukunaga’s follow-up to "Beasts of No Nation" until the director parted ways with New Line over budget cuts, which he reportedly felt would "compromise his artistic vision."

The studio eventually hired Andy Muschietti to direct the film, and given the box office, you’ve got to figure everyone’s pretty happy with how "It" turned out. Fukunaga’s original script has been floating around online for a while, and it makes for fascinating post-viewing reading. The movie that’s in theaters keeps most of the skeleton of Fukunaga and Palmer’s version, but there are a few key differences.

Grab a flashlight and a gang of nerdy teens, and let’s explore.

Pennywise looked different.

Grant Pollard/Invision/AP, Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

Here’s how Fukunaga and Palmer envision the infamous clown: “Not Bozo, or Ronald McDonald, but something more old world, freakish, like that of a 19th-century acrobat — bald, lithe, almost child-like."

Fukunaga considered Ben Mendelsohn and Mark Rylance for the part, but he eventually cast the younger Will Poulter. (Poulter left the project with Fukunaga, leaving room for Bill Skarsgård to jump in.)

Everyone knew Georgie got his arm ripped off.

Warner Bros. Pictures/YouTube

In the finished film, Bill holds out hope that his little brother is still alive, and his search for Georgie motivates a lot of the action. Not so in the original draft, where it’s common knowledge that the poor boy suffered a terrible death.

There were more parents around.

Brooke Palmer/Warner Bros.

Bill’s mom has actual lines, and she and the dad (who’s anachronistically named Zach) have a tiny arc about getting over Georgie's death.

Beverly’s mom’s in the picture, too. Unfortunately, this doesn’t make Bev’s home life any better: Mom is heavily drugged-up, and she has a gross scene where she lectures a squeamish Beverly about periods, then holds up a bloody tampon.

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