The new Stephen King movie It: Chapter 2 wraps up the events of King’s writing but both star Bill Skarsgard and director Andy Muschietti believe there is more story to tell with a potential third movie.
Skarsgard, who plays Pennywise the clown, told Entertainment Weekly that he would come back to play the murderous villain again if the scriptwriters found an interesting story to tell. He suggested that it could be fascinating to examine what happened before the events of the first It movie. King himself didn’t write an It prequel, so this would be an all-new story.
“The book ends where the second movie ends, so that is the final chapter of this story,” Skarsgard said. “There is this interesting aspect of going back in time before all this happened. There might be a story there that might be worth exploring. Obviously that would be a story that’s not in the book, it would be a freestanding story, but obviously within the same universe. So, there might be something interesting out of it. I think it would be fun.”
Muschietti, meanwhile, told i09 that the It universe is actually a rich tapestry on which to tell more stories, given that its mythology goes back millions of years.
“Mythology is something that always has opportunities to explore,” he said. “It has been on Earth for millions of years. He’s been in contact with humans for hundreds of years, every 27 years. So you can imagine the amount of material.”
It is the name of a multi-dimensional evil that just happens to take the form of Pennywise the clown in King’s books and the movies. In theory, It could take numerous other, different forms.
“It’s always exciting to think of eventually exploring this mythology,” Muschietti added. “It’s very exciting. But, for now, there’s nothing on the table [for a third movie].”
It Chapter 2 opened in theatres on September 5 and it dominated the box office with $91 million in the US and Canada, and $94 million from international markets for a first-weekend total opening of $185 million. The It movie franchise is enormously successful, as parts 1 and 2 hold the records for the first and second largest-openings for horror movies in the history of cinema.
Given that, it makes sense that producers Warner Bros. would think about making a third movie someday. It Chapter 2 focused a lot on the “Deadlights,” which have some kind of connection to It and Pennywise, but the second movie did not expand on what they actually are apart from suggesting they may be Pennywise’s true form. This could theoretically be a an avenue that a prequel might explore, though this is only speculation. For now, however, nothing has been announced or confirmed.
For more on It Chapter 2, check out GameSpot’s review and extended coverage in the feature linked below.
