Georgie Floats Back?

If the anticipation for IT: Chapter Two (the second part of the film adaptation of Stephen King’s IT) is killing you, Constant Readers/viewers can get an extra fix in the shape of a short film, which is coming on the horizon. Creepy Kingdom are bringing IT’s George Denbrough back to screens in a ‘what if?’ scenario called (unsurprisingly) Georgie. The television miniseries’ original Georgie, actor Tony Dakota, is returning to his role in the short, which is being crowdfunded via Indiegogo.

Stephen King’s original story opens with Georgie Denbrough (Dakota) racing into a raging rainstorm to play armed with nothing but a yellow rain slicker and a paper boat made for him by his big brother, Bill (Jonathan Brandis in the miniseries). Georgie has an altercation with the eponymous, monstrous IT in the guise of Pennywise the Dancing Clown (Tim Curry), leading to his play session being cut abruptly short. Mayhem that is part of a centuries-long cycle of death ensues.

The idea for the Georgie short came about after a feverish ‘what if’ session resulted in Creepy Kingdom’s John Campopiano contacting Dakota and inviting him to reprise his role. The actor has also appeared in programmes from 21 Jump Street to MacGyver and had stint with John Candy in Who’s Harry Crumb?

This short imagines what could have happened had the little boy fared significantly better at the fangs of Pennywise by focusing on how he may have grown up in Derry (where the story’s set). It’s a place where people turn away from abuse and pretty much ignore murder. As the Georgie press release puts it, the short focuses on how ‘grief, memory and childhood trauma’ have an effect on us all.

This project has pedigree and is one of several focusing on IT and it’s cultural significance. Production company Creepy Kingdom is John Campopiano as producer and co-writer, Ryan Grulich as director and co-writer and James H Carter II as Executive Producer. Campopiano previously co-wrote and directed the FEARnyc award-winning Unearthed and Untold: The Path to Pet Sematary and is also in post-production with Dead Mouse Productions for IT miniseries documentary, Pennywise: The Story of ‘IT’. Campopiano has also been interviewed by STARBURST’s Charlie Oughton for the writer’s own forthcoming book on the story.

IT Chapter Two is currently slated for release in September 2019.

To support Georgie, check out the short’s Indiegogo page here. Perks start at $10. The campaign will float to a close on September 13th 2018.