Pennywise the clown ate a baby in this terrifying scene from Stephen King's It

When Pennywise, the dancing clown, traumatised young Georgie in the most disturbing thriller of the year, It, most viewers were left shell shocked. And yet, the most gruesome scene involving the shape-shifter's villainy, as it emerges was left out of the final cut of the movie.

During a recent interview, Bill Skarsgard had hinted at a "disturbing" flashback involving his clown character in the film. Although the Swedish actor refrained from revealing more, new information on the deleted scene has emerged and it involves the monstrous Pennywise devouring a human baby.

Interestingly, the new details came from Timothy Simons, the Veep star, who had initially auditioned to play the role of Pennywise in IT.

"It was [Pennywise] way back at the beginning of Derry convincing the woman to give him her baby to eat," the American actor said on the latest Throwing Shade podcast.

Simons said the original Pennywise scene, where a woman named Abigail tries to protect her infant from the clown, "was scary".

"The thing that was scariest about it was that it was very direct. It was, 'If you don't do this, these are the things that I'm going to do.' And they were all terrible," he explained.

More lurid and graphic details of this baby-devouring scene from the script has also surfaced on a Reddit thread and it includes early details of Pennywise's shape-shifting. An excerpt is given below:

PENNYWISE So you say. The Baby SCREAMS. Pennywise smiles. PENNYWISE (CONT'D) Beautiful fear... ABIGAIL I pray Thee, take me. Abigail shuffles back. PENNYWISE I will. And then, him. And thy husband and the rest of thy children, and all the savages who brought you here. And when you all rot in the earth, I will pick thy bones dry until no meat is left to pick. And then I will seek out thy bones and consume thy souls until nothing is left but the weeds! (beat) Or you will occupy yourself otherwise and not interfere. I will take her and you will live, and those of thy other children -- in whom I take no interest. And you will thank ME fever and frost did not damn you to the soil. Abigail looks down at her baby again.

Just the description of the deleted scene is enough to send chills down the spine. While it was left out of the final edit of It, chances are a sequel might see Pennywise get down and dirty.

Since raking in the big bucks — the movie made over $630m (£475 million) worldwide — discussions for a second instalment are already in line. Most recently, though, director Andy Muschietti shared a candid snap with the Pennywise actor Skarsgard in a hotel room, which has unfailingly sparked hopes of It 2 for horror movie fans.