Last year the horror genre experienced unprecedented success with the premiere of Andy Muschietti's IT. The adaptation of the Stephen King classic proved incredibly popular with audiences, but the sequel is going to do something quite different by adapting the adult storyline of the source material. That will change things up from a narrative perspective, and as Pennywise actor Bill Skarsgard explained in a recent interview, the move to older and more established actors makes IT: Chapter Two a very different shooting process that excites him for the project. The IT veteran explained:
Off camera, I get to hang out with the entire adult cast now. It's weird and it's surreal because some of them are really big stars and they're coming in to your thing. They're stepping into the thing that me and [director] Andy [Muschietti] and the kids did. They're joining the band, in a way. They're excited, and I just had a lot of fun hanging out with all of them. It's going to be a very different shooting experience with all adults, for sure, but it will be fun. They're all really cool and talented people, so I think they will bring a lot to the table.
IT: Chapter Two already feels like an entirely different beast compared to what came before it. As Bill Skarsgard explained in his recent interview with Collider, the adult Losers Club is largely comprised of established actors like Split's James McAvoy and Molly's Game actress Jessica Chastain. However, they're entering a world that was created by Skarsgard, Andy Muschietti, and the kids from the previous movie, making them late additions to an established universe. It's been a fun process so far, but very different from the original film in a way that excites Skarsgard.
Another element to this idea is the fact that the adult Losers Club will likely have to suffer from very different scares when compared to the original movie. In the book, the adults find themselves scared by more cerebral forms of terror that would actually scare grown-ups, rather than the monsters that chase the children. If that holds true for the sequel movie, then it promises a distinct flavor compared to the 2017 IT.
Of course, none of this means that we won't see the younger IT actors appear in cameo roles. No flashbacks have been definitively confirmed yet, but photos taken on the set have shown that some of the younger members of the Losers Club have traveled to the production to meet with older actors like James McAvoy. Couple that with the fact that some of the younger IT actors actually expressed interest in returning during an interview with CinemaBlend last year, and it seems entirely possible that they could still show up.
Audiences will get a chance to see what Andy Muschietti, Bill Skarsgard, and the adult Losers Club get to bring to the table when IT: Chapter Two premieres next year on September 6, 2019. Until we learn more about the upcoming horror sequel, you can head over to our movie premiere guide and check out everything that's coming to theaters in 2018!
