Alamo Drafthouse turns joke into actual clowns-only screening of It

The Alamo Drafthouse has a special offer for those who want to throw on a pair of extra large red shoes, paint their faces in an array of different colors and squirt water at one another using fake flowers hanging from their shirt pockets.

The theater company announced today it will hold a clown-only screening of Warner Bros.’ upcoming live-action adaptation of Stephen King’s It. To honor the disturbing, murderous clown that stars in the movie, Pennywise, the Drafthouse wants people to dress up and parade their costumes around with other, like-minded clown enthusiasts. An official description of the event on the Drafthouse website reads:

For this special screening of IT, all attendees should arrive dressed as a clown in order to attend. Please arrive early and join us in the Barrel O' Fun beginning at 5:30pm for an IT pre-party where we will have face-painters available for clown "touch-ups", a photo booth, raffles for prizes, and other terrifying merriment. Please arrive in your own Pennywise best and be ready to float with us.

For those who don’t remember the debacle the Drafthouse went through when it announced a women-only screening of Wonder Woman, this may seem out of the blue, but it’s not. In May, the Drafthouse was inundated with negative messages from men about the supposed unfairness of the screening. “Let us live and watch Wonder Woman whenever and wherever we want,” they cried out in Facebook comments and on Twitter.

One commenter in particular thought the idea of a women-only Wonder Woman screening was so preposterous, he suggested that it was akin to only letting those who identified as clowns watch It.

Alamo Drafthouse/Facebook

Instead of ignoring the comment and moving on, the person running the Drafthouse’s social media account decided to reply, adding that it was a great idea. A few months later and the Drafthouse is ready to move forward with Ryan’s idea, giving anyone who wants to watch It with other clowns the chance to do that. Everyone, however, must be dressed up. Otherwise, as a representative for the Drafthouse said during the Wonder Woman debacle, people can just go to another screening at a different theater.

The Drafthouse did confirm that no children under the age of six will be permitted into the screening due to the age restriction. Children between the ages of six and 17 will be allowed to watch the film, provided they are accompanied by a parent or guardian. Still, while It may be about a group of children, and the theater chain is encouraging people to get dressed up for a fun day out at the movies, it might be best to let your 7-year-old hang back for this one.

It will be released on Sept. 8. The Drafthouse screening will take place on Sept. 9.