Stephen King’s ‘It’ Screenwriters Claim There’s ‘No Timeline’ for Second Film Production

Hitting theaters next week is the highly-anticipated adaptation of Stephen King‘s It, the second adaptation the massive novel has received. The novel is over 1,100 pages long, causing the filmmakers to break the story up into two parts, but according to a recent interview with Dread Central, the first installment’s screenwriters claim there’s no set plan of when the second part would begin production.

When directly asked if and when the sequel would be heading into production, Seth Grahame-Smith confessed, “I don’t know is the honest answer. We don’t know if we’re making the second one yet, as we sit here and talk to you, we hope we are…but we’ll see.”

In the story, a group of kids band together after being ostracized by their peers, only for a terrifying entity to single out this “Losers’ Club” to torment them. The kids believe they discover a weakness of the creature, causing them to confront the monster to end the threat once and for all. Sadly, 27 years later, the friends reunite after the realization that their nightmares have only just begun.

Both the story and 1990 mini-series adaptation of the story jumped back and forth between the two timelines, but the upcoming adaptation will only feature the young cast members.

Considering the age of the cast, the longer the delay before shooting could begin, the more likely the actors could go through puberty and look entirely different, were they to appear in the second installment of the adaptation.

“That happened between wrapping main unit – wrapping principal in September and coming in for a little additional in February and March,” the screenwriter pointed out. “Even in that span of time, they all grew a foot and sounded like squeaky – the only one that looks exactly the same is Sophia [Lillis, who plays Beverly].”

Grahame-Smith continued, “I don’t know is the honest answer. Right now, there’s no time line for the second one, that’s just the honest answer. We obviously all hope and want to jump in but right now we’re just focused on the next two weeks – honestly like I’m so nervous about the next two weeks that’s where I’m spending all my energy.”

Earlier this year, an adaptation of The Dark Tower hit theaters and was a critical and financial disappointment. The studio didn’t want to assume a sequel was a given, which has apparently been the approach with It.

Another possibility is that there are already plans developing for the second part that Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg aren’t involved in.

Once It hits theaters on September 8 and its level of success is determined, we’ll likely begin hearing updates on the second film shortly afterward.