What with even the most obscure, microscopic installments of Stephen King’s oeuvre being sold off at an alarming rate, it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to decipher which “Master of Horror” adaptation to keep tabs on. That said, there is one production you should shadow above all else, and that’s IT: Chapter Two.
In case you’re curious as to the reason for this mass migration of King literature to both the big and small screen, everything can be traced back to the 2017 Warner Bros. remake of IT. Having made over $700 million on a production budget of just $35 million, the Andy Muschietti-directed horror film was one of the year’s most profitable motion pictures, which, naturally, led to the fast-tracking of the aforementioned sequel.
With two-time Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain, who will star as the adult Beverly Marsh – initially portrayed by Sophia Lillis – locked down, IT: Chapter Two then secured Golden Globe nominee James McAvoy and Saturday Night Live alum Bill Hader to play the adult Bill Denbrough (Jaeden Lieberher) and Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard), respectively.
Scheduled to begin production this summer in Toronto, given the whirlwind fascination generated by its predecessor, the anticipation surrounding IT: Chapter Two is palpable, so you can forgive Andy Muschietti and the Losers Club for jumping the gun a bit early, as we understand filming is already underway. McAvoy confirmed as much earlier this week on his Instagram, announcing that day 1 of production had kicked off.
From what we understand, IT: Chapter Two will pick up twenty-seven years after the first film left off, when the Losers Club return to the small town of Derry, Maine to defeat the evil clown Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) for good. And though they’ll have had to wait over two decades to finish their fight, you’ll only have to wait until September 6th, 2019, as that’s when the sequel hits theaters