It: Chapter Two is on its way, and no fan of Stephen King or the previous movie is as excited as director Andy Muschietti. Sadly, Muschietti couldn’t appear in-person at ‘Scare Diego’ during San Diego Comic-Con, New Line Cinema’s event for horror fans, as the filmmaker is currently shooting It: Chapter Two in Toronto with an all-star cast that includes Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader, and Bill Skarsgård. But he did appear by video to reveal some enticing new footage.
Here’s what we got to see.
There were plenty of quick cuts to scenes from the feel-good ending of 2017’s It, as well as Muschietti acknowledging he takes an enjoyment out of fans being as obsessed with casting the Losers Club in their late 30s as he was while making the sequel. However, there were a few major tidbits gleaned in the It: Chapter Two sizzle reel, including the first footage of a film that only began production a few weeks ago.
After a tantalizing montage of the adult cast’s first table read, as well as what looked like a script read for child actors Sophia Lillis and Jaeden Lieberher, who play teenaged Beverly and Bill, our first actual footage from It: Chapter Two unveiled itself. And it involves Richie Tozier cracking wise.
The scene sees the Losers Club reunited in a Chinese restaurant, gathered for the first time since their summer pact in 1989, now adults who can barely recall childhood or each other. James McAvoy stands tall as Bill Denbrough, sporting a full luscious mane of hair for those wondering if McAvoy was shaving his head again (Bill goes bald in the book). He is staring incredulously at all his childhood friends gathered in one place, including Chastain as an adult Beverly, and Bill Hader as adult Richie.
Banging a tacky ceremonial gong behind him (it is set in suburban Maine), Hader’s Richie shouts out, “What’s up losers?! So what do y’all want to talk about?” James Ransone’s adult Eddie Kaspbrak mutters “holy shit” in disbelief. The sequence is part of a sizzle reel that also includes Chastain’s adult Bev being phased by something and checking her smartphone, in a departure from the 1985-set novel.
For those uninitiated to the importance of Chinese restaurants and It, Stephen King based a pivotal sequence in the novel on a favorite local restaurant in Bangor, Maine. In that Chinese themed establishment, the Losers Club has its first meeting wherein at least six of the seven losers attend a makeshift reunion. It is a crucial moment in all of their lives, even before Pennywise makes an unannounced entrance during dessert. Obviously seeing a hint of that sequence sent horror fans into an uproar in San Diego.
It will be over a year before we see the full scene play out, as It: Chapter Two will not be released until Sept. 6, 2019.