Director Andy Muschietti is gearing up to head into production on IT: CHAPTER 2, the second half of the story he started telling with last year's hit Stephen King adaptation IT, and he has been assembling an impressive cast in recent weeks, getting Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, and Bill Hader to play the grown-up versions of the characters Beverly, Bill, and Richie.
IT: CHAPTER 2 is obviously going to feature some great actors, but beyond that Muschietti is also planning to top the first IT in the horror department: in a taped interview that was shown at CinemaCon, the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners, Muschietti warned that viewers will need to "bring your adult diapers to the theatres" because this movie is going to be "darker and even scarier" than its predecessor.
The first IT told the following story:
A group of young kids faces their biggest fears when they seek answers to the disappearance of children in their hometown of Derry, Maine. They square off against an evil clown named Pennywise, whose history of murder and violence dates back for centuries.
IT: CHAPTER 2 is set twenty-seven years later, when the "Losers' Club" has a rematch with Pennywise as adults.
Bill Skarsgård will be reprising the role of Pennywise the Dancing Clown.
It will be interesting to see how IT: CHAPTER 2 turns out, because I have seen some viewers who still prefer the mini-series over Muschietti's IT say they actually only like the half that focuses on the Losers' Club as children. Maybe Muschietti will manage to deliver a more satisfying take on the adult side of the story.
We'll find out when the follow-up is released on September 6, 2019.