Spoiler Alert: The following post contains spoilers about the film It. Proceed with caution!
Good news! New Line cinemas is already working on a sequel to the newest iteration of Stephen King's It, which arrives in theaters today. According to The Hollywood Reporter, screenwriter Gary Dauberman signed on to pen the follow-up movie already. (Dauberman, along with Cary Fukunaga and Chase Palmer, wrote the script for the 2017 film.) THR also notes that director Andy Muschietti is "waiting in the wings" to return.
Given that the new film condenses 1100 pages of a Stephen King novel into a 2-hour screech fest, there's a lot more to unpack. A sequel is warranted — and the closing title card for the film calls it "Chapter One."
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Here's what we know about the sequel so far.
1. The sequel will deal with the "adult" narrative from the book.
King's novel flickers between two narratives: That of the Loser's Club as pre-tweens, and the Loser's Club as adults, 27 years later. (The beast arrives every 27 years in Derry.) The sequel, then, will dash forward 27 years to contend with the Losers — Mike, Stan, Eddie, Bill, Ben, Richie and Beverly, in this version — as they fight the awakened beast. As the first took place in the 1980s, the sequel will have to occur in the new millennium. It can ride the wave of early '00s nostalgia!
2. But this doesn't mean you won't see the childhood crew again.
Muschietti stated in an interview with Collider that the sequel would include flashbacks that would put the adult narratives in context.
"I always insisted that if there is a second part, there would be a dialogue between the two timelines," he said, "that it would be approached like the adult life of the losers, [but] there would be flashbacks that sort of illuminate events that are not told in the first one."
3. Jessica Chastain may appear in it.
A big emphasis on the "may." Sophia Lillis, who plays Beverly in the film, stated in an interview that she would like for Chastain to play Beverly as an adult. Muschietti worked with Chastain on the 2013 film Mama, so it's not inconceivable that Chastain would get the role.
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In an interview with Deadline, producer Barbara Muschietti (Andy's sister) was asked if production considered Chastain for adult Beverly — in the event of a sequel.
"I can’t bite my tongue about this," she answered. "We would love for Jess to play her. I think one of the first things that we noticed when we saw Sophia come into the room was, my gosh, you look like her. It’s a strange kind of connection but we will see. We will see."
4. The original Loser's Club already has their adult counterparts picked out, but it's a heavy list.
In an interview with Rotten Tomatoes editor Grae Drake, the young actors listed the actors they'd like to see in the sequel.
Here's the potential cast:
Mike: Chadwick Boseman
Eddie: Jake Gyllenhaal
Bill: Tobey Maguire
Ben: Chris Pratt
Richie: Bill Hader
Stan: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
And, of course, Jessica Chastain for Beverly.
It's a stellar lineup, really.
5. The sequel will explore Pennywise's backstory.
Bill Skarsgård, who plays Pennywise in the film, told Metro that "there's more exploration for who Pennywise is." He also stated that he's "attached" to the film, whatever that means, and that he's "talking to Andy [Muschietti] about it."
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