The new film adaptation of Stephen King’s It is being split into two, and the first, which told the story of the Losers’ Club when they were kids, has already arrived to rave reviews and record breaking box office numbers. Chapter 1 director Andy Muschietti is returning for the sequel which will focus on the grown up losers returning to Derry decades later when it looks like Pennywise the dancing clown has returned to wreak more havoc.
Here’s all the up-to-date news an info on the It: Chapter 2 – updated as we have it, so check back here for breaking news and gossip.
It: Chapter 2 plot
The second part of the adaptation will pick up with a much older Losers’ Club. After fighting and defeating Pennywise the Clown in the Summer of 1989, the young heroes make a pact to return to Derry, Maine if the monster were to ever wake up from his slumber.
We know that Pennywise returns from the depths of Derry every 27 years to terrorise the town and eat the children, which would mean that when the clown shows up for his encore it’ll be 2016! And we wouldn’t be all that surprised if, like the 1990 miniseries, they fudge it and make it 30 years so it’s 2019.
Wow, the tone of this second film is certainly going to be different.
It: Chapter 2 cast
It: Chapter 2 needed a whole new cast, since the story will focus on the adult Losers.
Jessica Chastain is Beverly Marsh, who was portrayed by Sophia Lillis in the first movie.
Here she is passing the red balloon to Chastain.
Chastain recently appeared on Jimmy Fallon to talk about a range of topics, but wouldn’t be drawn too much into what we can expect from the sequel. She did, however, tease one particular scene:
“In the movie there’s a scene…someone said on set that it’s the most blood that’s ever been in a horror film. In a scene.”
Bloomin’ ‘eck, what are we in for?
James McAvoy is Bill Denbrough, who was played by Jaeden Lieberher in Chapter 1.
Bill Hader plays Richie Tozier, taking over for Finn Wolfhard.
Jay Ryan will play the adult version of Ben Hanscom, who was played as a child in the first part by Jeremy Ray Taylor.
James Ransone will play the adult version of Eddie Kaspbrak who was portrayed by Jake Dylan Grazer in the first film.
Andy Bean will play the adult version of Stan Uris, who was played by Wyatt Oleff in the first film.
Isaiah Mustafa will be Mike, played by Chosen Jacobs in Chapter 1.
Bill Skarsgard, who also stars in Stephen King-based series Castle Rock, will of course return as the terrifying Pennywise, and he’s especially thrilled about the way the adult cast is coming together.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” he said. “It’s going to be a very different experience this time around, just given the fact that you have all of these incredible, seasoned actors to play against, as opposed to having all the kids. So it’s going to be a different experience for sure. But I’m looking forward to it.”
It: Chapter 2 filming
James McAvoy commemorated Day 1 of filming on Chapter 2 by posting a pun that’s literally cheesy – courtesy of catering – with a pack of Laughing Cow cheese, which plays on the homophones of ‘dairy’ and the story’s Maine small-town setting of ‘Derry’…
“Glad you got the memo guys #passthecheeseplease #derryordairy,” he wrote.
Certainly, McAvoy’s Bill and the other adult versions of the Losers’ Club will likely develop an intolerance of a different kind for the town of Derry, since they’re headed for a fateful collision course with their childhood nemesis, Pennywise.
The first footage for the grown-up Losers Club has been revealed at San Diego Comic-Con. The footage hasn’t been released but the scene shown sees the group 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, 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.
McAvoy also shared another post in the first month of filming – and he appeared to have strained his thighs scrapping with Pennywise…
Here was our first glimpse of the adult Losers Club all together, via the film’s official Twitter account.
It: Chapter 2 changes from the book
It’s clear Andy Muschietti’s vision already deviates quite a bit from King’s novel. Most obviously in his decision to split the grown up Losers Club story out from the kids’ part which was covered in the first film. But Muschietti has also teased several other changes.
One of these relates to Mike (Chosen Jacobs in It: Chapter 1) who is the only members of the Losers Club to stay behind in Derry after the events of the first film. Speaking to EW, Muschietti teased that he has a dark plan for the future librarian.
“My idea of Mike in the second movie is quite darker from the book,” he said. “I want to make his character the one pivotal character who brings them all together, but staying in Derry took a toll with him.
“I want him to be a junkie actually. A librarian junkie. When the second movie starts, he’s a wreck.
“He’s not just the collector of knowledge of what Pennywise has been doing in Derry,” he explained. “He will bear the role of trying to figure out how to defeat him. The only way he can do that is to take drugs and alter his mind.”
Poor old Mike.
Another major change is of course the decade – as we saw from the first film the movies are set in the ’80s and the present day, where the original was set in the ’50s and the ’80s.
And how about the turtle Maturin? We didn’t get much of a nod to Stephen King’s slightly bizarre anti-Pennywise entity In Chapter 1 – the only mentions were a Lego turtle in Bill’s room and an offhand remark about a turtle when the gang is swimming. But Muschietti isn’t ruling out more Maturin in Chapter 2. Talking to Digital Spy he said:
“I was never a fan of the turtle in the Macroverse mythology. But that doesn’t mean it won’t be in the second part. But my main concerns are that I don’t want this to be a fantasy movie.” So turtle power might not be off the cards after all.
It: Chapter 2 release date
It: Chapter 2 will arrive in cinemas on 6th September, 2019.