4. More Racism
Simular to what was listed above, racisim was a lot more present in the orignal script. In the film, Henry tells Mike to get out of his town. In the earlier script, Travis calls Mike the n-word, accuses him of stealing his knife, and brands him a “jungle monkey.” His father, Officer Bowers, is just as abhorrent, dragging Mike in for questioning after Patrick Hockstetter disappears. He repeatedly calls Mike “boy” and later refers to him as the “Negro boy.” By clearly underlining the deep-seated racism that infects Derry, the oringal provided a fuller portrait of Mike’s isolation — he’s not an outsider by choice.
5. A change in climax
In the oringal script Beverly is not the damsel in distress. Instead she goes along with the boys down to the lair to attempt to kill Pennywise before he can continue to terrize the city. The way the kids defeat Pennywise is pretty similar, though at one point, IT manifests as a tentacle monster.
6. A drastically different ending
As in the novel, Travis’s hair turns white after his encounter with IT. The film left Henry’s fate ambiguous — the fall should have killed him, but who knows — while the original script has Travis taken into custody for killing his father. As for the Losers Club, they still make their blood oath, but there’s no kiss between Will and Beverly. There is, however, a somewhat happier ending, in which they gather again to say goodbye to Will, who is going on vacation with his parents, seemingly less traumatized from George’s death. But the camera lingers on the scars on their hands — and a red balloon floats above them.
