It has already raked in $117.1 million dollars, making it one of the top grossing movies of 2017. According to producer Barbara Muschietti, a sequel is already being planned, and will be set twenty-seven years in after the events of the first movie. Of course it will feature the reappearance of Pennywise.
The rapidly growing young cast of It / Image Via Digital Spy
Director Andy Muschietti told Entertainment Weekly that the sequel will center around Mike Hanlon, who is homeschooled and bullied, and the only member of the group to remain in Derry after the events of the first It movie.
In the original novel by Stephen King, the two narratives (that of the gang as children and then later that of their return as adults) are intertwined. However the films will be split into two halves. The first movie, which hit theaters on Friday, September 8th, focuses on the children. The planned sequel will deal with their return to Derry, summoned by Mike (Chosen Jacobs) who is now a librarian. Muschietti intends to add a darker slant to the tale by giving Mike a serious drug addiction, saying “when the second movie starts, he’s a wreck.”
Chosen Jacobs as Mike in It / Image Via Creators
In the book Mike does not have an addiction problem. He is the only one who has stayed in Serry and continues ‘acting as a gatekeeper,’ according to Digital Spy. However, in the sequel, Mike will have more autonomy and be more involved in the action. Muschietti says
He’s not just the collector of knowledge of what Pennywise has been doing in Derry. He will bear the role of trying to figure out how to defeat him. The only way he can do that is to take drugs and alter his mind.
Muschietti and his sister Barbara are anxious to get the show on the road before the child stars of the first It movie get much older, as the sequel will feature flashbacks. Barbara says “it’s important for Andy to get flashbacks with the kids, who are growing very fast. They are an important component in the next film.”
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