Professional clowns are worried the new Stephen King thriller “It” will ruin their careers by making kids and others afraid of them.
“It” features a serial killer that sometimes dresses like a clown named Pennywise. The movie adaptation of Stephen King’s book released this weekend and is exceeding box office expectations, making $117.2 million so far when only about $70 million was expected.
Clowns International representatives Rob Bowker and Andrew Davis oppose the movie and say it could cost professional clowns work if children and others see the movie and become afraid.
"I have no problem with the film, it’s a cheap budget movie, poor CGI," Bowker said on the British morning show "This Morning." "I reckon that guy who invented the fidget-spinner has also done this film."
World Clown Associate President Pam Moody referenced the organization’s press kit on scary clowns that asks people to differentiate between someone using a clown costume to scare people and a professional clown who wants to make people laugh.
The statement also recommends that “young children not be exposed to horror movies which are intended for mature audiences.”
“Last year we were really blindsided,” Moody told The Hollywood Reporter in the context of the creepy clowns that cropped up for a while last fall.
Twitter users shot back at professional clowns’ complaints, however.
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