Andy Muschietti working on a 15-minute extended director’s cut of It

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Andy Muschietti's adaptation of Stephen King's "It" has scarcely been out for a week, but it's already reached damn near blockbuster status with an impressive box-office take and much critical praise, so it should come as no surprise that Warner Bros. wants more. Andy Muschietti and his producer/sister, Barbara Muschietti, told Yahoo Movies that the studio had recently asked them to produce a new extended version of IT for it's DVD/Blu-ray release at the end of the year.

"Right, we are going to do a director’s cut. We were told this morning," Barbara Muschietti said, with Andy adding that there would "probably [be] an extra 15 minutes for hardcore fans," including a "very funny" extended version of the quarry scene, where The Losers Club try to work up their courage to leap off the cliff into the water below. "After the spitting contest it escalates into something that is completely weird and irrelevant to the scene but is so funny," said Andy. "Jack Grazer, who plays Eddie, does something that is completely bonkers." As for any other scenes which may make it into the director's cut, Andy Muschietti said he can think of one scene in particular which was difficult to cut out of the theatrical version.

There’s a great scene, it’s a bit of a payoff of the Stanley Uris plot which is the bar mitzvah, where he delivers a speech against all expectations… it’s basically blaming all the adults of Derry [for the town’s history of deadly “accidents” and child disappearances], and it has a great resolution. … Maybe it will be in the director’s cut!

The theatrical release of IT ran 2 hours and 15 minutes, which means that the director's cut, assuming Andy Muschietti's estimate is correct, would be pushing 2 and a half hours. That's an awful lot of child murdering clown action just in time for the holidays. 'Tis the season.

The Muschietti siblings are also working hard on developing IT: CHAPTER 2, which will be set in the present day and find the now adult members of the Losers Club reuniting to face It (Bill Skarsgård) once again. The younger cast will also be back for flashbacks, which has Andy Muschietti anxious to get started as soon as they can because the flashbacks are "an important component in the next film" and the young actors are "growing very fast."

IT is now playing in theaters, so make sure to check out a review from our own Eric Walkuski and make sure to let us know what YOU thought of the film as well.