It’s sometimes hard to keep track of all the Stephen King movie and TV adaptations that have been released recently, and there’s plenty more to come. But there was one movie last year that exceeded the rest in terms of audience numbers, and that was the hugely successful It. The film grossed more than $700 million worldwide, making it one of the most successful horror movies of all time, and the sequel is set for release next year.
It: Chapter 2 is currently in production, and a new image from the set has been released. The movie is set 30 years after the first film, and it follows the adult versions of the kids in the original. While we’ve already seen a picture of the adult cast at a pre-production script reading, this is the first shot of them all in character. Check it out below, via Slashfilm‘s Chris Evangelista:
It: Chapter 2 stars Jessica Chastain as Beverly, James McAvoy as Bill, Bill Hader as Richie, James Ransone as Eddie, Andy Bean as Stan, and Isaiah Mustafa as Mike, plus Bill Skarsgård as the terrifying clown Pennywise. It’s directed by Andy Muschietti, who helmed the first movie, and hits theaters on September 6, 2019.
In an interview last year, Muschietti explained that while the movie would focus on the adult characters, the young cast will still play a part. In King’s novel, the two timelines are told side-by-side, elements of which will remain in the sequel.
“In my opinion, it can’t only be about adults,” he told The Independent. “Something that I love about the book is the dialogue between the two timelines because, ultimately, it’s a story about childhood. It’s a love letter to childhood, but it’s also a story of the death of childhood. It’s symbolic, of course, because when Pennywise describes himself as the eater of worlds, he’s not talking about a monster that eats planets; he’s talking about eating the world of imagination and magic.”