Every ‘It: Chapter Two’ Detail We Know So Far

IT: Chapter Two could be the biggest horror movie in years, and it is coming up fast.

Fans will not have to wait 27 years between the two halves of the IT story this time. The second half of the two-part Stephen King adaptation is currently in production, and people are chomping at the bit to learn everything they can about the film.

Their excitement is not misplaced — last year’s IT set box office records and defied all expectations, especially because many people had the previous made-for-TV movie version in their minds. This generation’s IT took a much different approach to King’s classic horror novel, including the ingenious idea to split the child and adult portions into two separate movies.

For those that do not follow, the shape-shifting demon clown known as Pennywise wakes from a kind of supernatural hibernation once every 27 years in the story. The main characters encounter him once as children, and then again as adults, showing the way that fear and trauma shape a person over time.

There is less than a year until IT: Chapter Two hits theaters. Here is a breakdown of everything we know about the movie so far.

Release Date

First and foremost, you probably want to know when you can buy a ticket to the instant hit. IT: Chapter Two is currently scheduled for release on Sep. 6, 2019.

Naturally, a lot can happen in that time, and movie schedules are never guaranteed. Still, given the remarkable success of IT — both financially and critically — chances seem good that we will be seeing Pennywise as soon as possible.

Director

IT: Chapter Two is being directed by Andrés Muschietti, who also helmed the first installment. Muscschietti hails from Argentina, and his King adaptation has made him one of the hottest names in Hollywood.

His first film, also a horror, was 2013’s Mama, which Guillermo del Toro once called the “scariest” movie he had “ever seen” in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

Main Cast

After IT, whoever was cast in the adult versions of the same roles was bound to have their work cut out for them. The first part was carried by an incredible young ensemble, but now there is an all-star cast stepping into their grown-up shoes.

James McAvoy is taking over as Jaeden Lieberher for Bill Denbrough, Jessica Chastain is taking over as Beverly Marsh for Sophia Lillis, Bill Hader will play Richie Tozier instead of Finn Wolfhard, and Jay Ryan is playing Ben Hanscom after Jeremy Ray Taylor.

Additionally, James Ransone will take over Eddie Kaspbrak after Jack Dylan Grazer, Andy Bean is now Stanley Uris instead of Wyatt Oleff and Isaiah Mustafa will take the role of Mike Hanlon after Chosen Jacobs.

Filming

IT: Chapter Two began filming in June of this year. The movie is being shot up in Toronto, Ontario, on a highly secretive set, doubling for King’s Derry, Maine. Filming is scheduled to wrap on Oct. 25.

Leaked Set Photos

While the set has tried to keep a tight lid on spoilers, a few glimpses have emerged. Most of them focus on Bill Skarsgard in costume.

Story

Of course, those familiar with King’s 1986 novel have a head start on the rest of the audience in terms of story. IT: Chapter Two is expected to stick as closely to the novel’s back half as the first part did to the beginning. One important note is that it includes several flashbacks and memories, so the younger versions of the characters will still be present.

In essence, the movie will follow middle-aged versions of the Losers’ Club as they return to their hometown, unearthing their repressed memories and trying to destroy Pennywise the clown once and for all.

The Ritual of Chüd

King’s novel has a few scenes that are too disturbing or strange to make it into the movies — notably a bizarre sexual initiation when the characters are younger. However, at least one surreal sequence will be shown in full in IT: Chapter Two — The Ritual of Chüd. Screenwriter Gary Dauberman confirmed the ritual in an interview with Cinema Blend.

“The Ritual of Chüd is challenging, but it’s such an important component to the book that we had to address it,” he said. “That stuff is difficult to balance, but because [director Andy Muschietti, producer Barbara Muschietti and I] worked with each other before, when I’m writing pages and all that stuff, it becomes more of a conversation and less like, ‘Hey, here’s what I did.’ It’s sort of organic; it’s really kind of just chipping away at the stone and trying to find the most focused, accessible way into some of more metaphysical aspects of that book.”

Mike Hanlon

Meanwhile, Muschietti spoke to Entertainment Weekly, where teased some sad news for Mike Hanlon — and one of the biggest departures from the novel. In Chapter Two, Mike has spent has stayed in Derry for his whole life, working as a librarian and developing some bad habits.

“My idea of Mike in the second movie is quite darker from the book,” Muschietti 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.”