Over the weekend, James McAvoy celebrated 40 years on this planet, and to mark the occasion, It: Chapter Two director Andy Muschietti took to Instagram with a belated message for the star.
The post consists of a photo of the Glass and X-Men actor, who assumes the role of Bill Denbrough in Muschietti’s highly anticipated follow-up to 2017’s It. In the caption, the filmmaker offered a quick tease of what to expect from the stuttering Losers Club leader now that he’s all grown up:
“And a happy belated birthday to the great [James McAvoy] who will thrust his f-f-fists against anything that moves in September 6”
While all of the young heroes from the first It are expected to reprise their roles for the sequel, Chapter Two will primarily focus on their older counterparts, as the story jumps 27 years into the future. The new line-up consists of McAvoy as Bill, Jessica Chastain as Beverly Marsh, Jay Ryan as Ben Hanscom, Bill Hader as Richie Tozier, Isaiah Mustafa as Mike Hanlon, James Ransone as Eddie Kaspbrak and Andy Bean as Stan Uris.
So far, no footage from Muschietti’s film has been released online, though it can only be so long before the first trailer drops. There was even some speculation that a Chapter Two teaser would go live earlier this month to coincide with CinemaCon, since the event was previously used to premiere a trailer for the first It. Evidently, that wasn’t the case, but attendees at the convention still got to see some footage, which reportedly showed Chastain’s Beverly reliving her childhood trauma.
Regardless, we’ll find out if Bill, Bev and the rest of the Losers Club can banish the clown once and for all when It: Chapter Two hits theaters on September 6th, 2019.