Russian clowns protest against the release of the new horror film ‘It’

Clowns from the St. Petersburg theater troupe “Komik-Trest” (Comic Trust) staged a protest outside the city’s legislative assembly on Thursday, demanding that Russia ban Andy Muschietti’s new film adaptation of the 1986 Stephen King supernatural horror novel “It,” which features a murderous monster clown. The clowns from Komik-Trest say Pennywise the Dancing Clown — the monster in “It” — discredits their profession.

“We, clowns with 30 years of experience, declare that such, let’s say, ‘artistic’ films discredit the honor of our profession and offend the feelings of our country’s clowns,” Komik-Trest said in a statement. The troupe’s demonstrators protested in costume.

This wasn’t Russia’s first protest against “It.” Sverdlovsk regional lawmaker and director of the Yekaterinburg Circus Anatoly Marchensky previously spoke out against the movie, asking the public “not to encroach on something holy [i.e. clowns]” and “not to commit a crime against children.”

In response, Russian filmmaker Alexey Fedorchenko mocked Marchensky, calling on a boycott of the films “Saw” and “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” claiming that these movies discredit lumberjacks.

“It” tells the story of seven children in Derry, Maine, who are terrorized by the eponymous being, only to face their own personal demons in the process. The movie hits theaters around the world, including in Russia, on September 7.