Pennywise the Clown is on his way to the big screen. According to producer Roy Lee, "It" is targeting an R-rating for its latest adaptation and the studio plans to start shooting sometime later this year.

"It will hopefully be shooting later this year. We just got the California tax credit," Lee told Collider. "Gary Doberman wrote the most recent draft working with [director] Andy Muscetti, so it’s being envisioned as two movies."

"It is very close to the source material in one way but very different if you look at it as a literary piece of work," he said of the story. "We’re taking it and making the movie from the point of view of the kids, and then making another movie from the point of view of the adults, that could potentially then be cut together like the novel. But it’s gonna be a really fun way of making this movie."

Split into two films, the adaptation will tell the tale of a group of misfit children who come together one summer to confront the mysterious, shape-shifting monster that’s plagued their town, most frequently in the form of a clown. “It” was adapted in 1990 as a television miniseries, starring Tim Curry as Pennywise. However, it wasn’t until 2009 that Warner Bros. began its push to bring the decades-spanning, 900-page novel to the big screen.

“The Maze Runner” actor Will Plouffer was cast earlier as the terrifying clown Pennywise, but it’s unclear whether he’ll remain following Cary Fukanaga’s departure and resulting delay.

Dan Lin, Roy Lee, Seth Grahame-Smith and Jeffrey Katzenberg will produce the film, with “Mama’s” Andy Muschietti directing.