Pennywise the Dancing Clown, also known as The Eater of Worlds, is arguably one of Stephen King’s crowning achievements.
Much like the Boggart of Harry Potter, King’s killer clown is able to lure its victims (children, mostly) by assuming the form of their biggest fears – be it a burning mass of human flesh or, in the case of Stanley, a warped oil painting running amok. That nightmare fuel formed the spine of New Line’s recent adaptation and even now, over a month after its initial release, It continues to perform quite well at the global box office, recently smashing through $600 million worldwide.
It’s no wonder New Line and Warner Bros. wasted little time before issuing the green light on It: Chapter Two. A September 2019 release date is already in place, and we understand both Andy and Barbara Muschietti are prepared to reprise their roles as director and producer, respectively.
As for what fans can expect from the sequel, IGN recently caught up with Bill Skarsgård to discuss the film, which will seemingly be “actively different” than the first one. Not only that, but it looks certain the Muschiettis will be taking us inside the twisted mind of Pennywise in two years’ time. Eek!
“The first movie worked so well at what it is trying to do, I think, and ultimately that is the kids’ story, and you follow these kids and you sort of fall in love with these kids,” he said. “And the second one will be the adult story. And I think the right way to do it is to make that movie actively different. … I think there might be worth exploring sort of the psychological aspects of horror, but also maybe the sort of cosmological existence of this being. What is he, and where does he come from?”
Continuing on, the actor explained how the movie could take us on a psychedelic trip, saying:
“And, you know, it’s hardly answered in the novel, either. I mean, it’s very abstract. And I kind of like that. It could be almost a sort of surrealistic sort of psychedelic trip if you go into the mind of Pennywise. And if you’ve read the novel you know that they do actually go into his mind. Or they go into this transdimensional place, and they sort of beat him in this place. Which might be interesting, what that place would be, and what would it look like. There are opportunities, I think, and I’m excited for it.”
It’s still early days, but what we know so far about the sequel is that things will pick up with the Losers Club 27 years after the events of It. Given that, we’re unclear as yet whether the film will herald the return of Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things), Sophia Lillis and the rest of the gang, but assuming director Andy Muschietti and Co. incorporate flashbacks into the story, there’s a very good chance the movie will feature both the original Losers Club and their adult counterparts, as the fight against Pennywise begins to reach its bloody conclusion. Chalk that up as conjecture for now, though, as there’s currently no script in place.
Still, it’s been an incredible first month and a half for the movie and now that Pennywise has been banished for upwards of 27 years, the Losers Club will go their separate ways – at least, until the advent of It: Chapter Two in 2019.
