IT: Chapter Two director Andy Muschietti has unveiled a first look photo of James McAvoy as Bill Denbrough in the horror movie sequel. While the first IT movie didn’t start of the wave of modern Stephen King adaptations, it certainly cemented the author’s newly invigorated pop cultural dominance, and grossed an unexpectedly massive $700 million at the global box office in the process. The spirit of King’s original novel has lived on in popular offerings like Netflix’s Stranger Things in recent years, but the success of IT really served to illustrate the enduring multigenerational appeal of King’s storytelling.

Of course, nostalgia also played an important role in IT’s success and the way its 1980s setting (a change from King’s book, which begins in the ’50s) struck a chord with those who either grew up in the decade and/or were raised on ’80s pop culture, like the young members of the Losers’ Club in the film. And much like IT spoke to the childhood experiences of many an adult, Chapter Two - which picks up 27 years after its predecessor, as the Losers reunite to battle Pennywise the Dancing Clown upon his return to Derry - may resonate with them and where they are in the present day.

Naturally, the Losers are all facing middle-age when Chapter Two catches up to them, starting with their leader, Bill. Their reunion will surely revive some long-abandoned feelings for the former close-knit friends, especially when it comes to Bill and Beverly Marsh, who’s portrayed as an adult by McAvoy’s Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby and X-Men: Dark Phoenix costar, Jessica Chastain. The pair’s Eleanor Rigby castmate Bill Hader also plays a grown-up Richie Tozier in the sequel, but for now Muschietti has only released a photo of a greying McAvoy as Bill (in honor of the actor’s birthday). Take a look, below.

Bill, like the rest of the Losers’ Club, will have to confront his childhood trauma before he heads back to Derry’s sewers to find Pennywise’s lair and kill the shape-shifting monster, once and for all. In Bill’s case, that means revisiting the death of his young brother Georgie, with Jackson Robert Scott reportedly reprising his role as Bill’s sibling-turned Pennywise victim from the first movie (making it two creepy roles in a row for Scott, between this and February’s The Prodigy). Audiences at CinemaCon got a taste of Beverly confronting her own dark childhood earlier this month, where Muschietti presented IT: Chapter Two footage from a scene where the character visits her (abusive) father’s old apartment.

Where the ’90s IT mini-series jumped back and forth between the past and present timelines from King’s source material, Muschietti and screenwriter Gary Dauberman made the choice to split the IT narrative into two movies instead. And though there’s an obvious financial benefit to this approach (allowing Warner Bros. to release two films, rather than one), it also means that talented actors like McAvoy, Chastain, and Hader should get more time to shine in IT: Chapter Two than they might’ve otherwise. Sounds good by us.

Source: Andy Muschietti

  • IT Chapter Two Release Date: 2019-09-06