The big screen adaptations of Stephen King’s It proved to be so popular that it ranks as the fifth highest-grossing horror franchise in history after raking in almost $1.2 billion at the box office, despite only consisting of two movies. Takings may have dropped by over $200 million between Chapters One and Two, with the critical reception also taking a nosedive, but Hollywood has shown countless times over the years that no profitable brand is ever really finished.
Despite there being no source material to work from, speculation has persisted about a potential third installment or spinoff for Pennywise, something that star Bill Skarsgård has previously admitted he was open to. Chapter Two seemed to split opinion down the middle, with some naming it one of the best horror movies of the year and others calling it a massive disappointment, but with the industry’s latest Stephen King renaissance still in full swing, the prospect of another outing can never truly be ruled out.
Writer Gary Dauberman has already hinted that there are more stories to tell, and we’ve now heard that a third chapter is in the early stages of development. According to our intel – which comes from the same sources that told us a new Scream movie, National Treasure 3, Now You See Me 3 and a Percy Jackson streaming series were in the works before any of them were officially announced – It: Chapter Three (at least, we presume that’s the title) will reportedly make another time jump and, you guessed it, focus on the surviving members of the Losers Club having to deal with Pennywise, who will somehow return to cause problems once again.
Of course, King is no stranger to writing long-delayed sequels to his own books, with Doctor Sleep one example that recently got the big screen treatment, but at this stage, it remains unclear if the author is planning to write a new novel for the film or if the script for It: Chapter Three will just be an entirely original idea written specifically for the movie. All we know is that it won’t be based on existing material. At least, material that already exists.
In any case, if the idea for the story is good enough, then fans would no doubt be more than happy to see Pennywise return to the big screen and torment the Losers Club once more.
