After months of rumors, director Andres Muschietti has finally gone on record about when we should expect the second It film to arrive. Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema‘s adaptation of the classic Stephen King novel was planned from the get-go to be a two film adaptation, with the book split chronologically. The first film, which arrives this September, is set in the late 1980s as our young heroes first encounter the terrifying being Pennywise (Bill Skarsgard). The second, when it arrives, will deal with them returning as adults to finally put an end to his reign of terror.
Speaking to Variety today, Muschietti laid out the current plan for the second film…
“We are doing that [two films]. We’ll probably have a script for the second part in January. Ideally, we would start prep in March. Part one is only about the kids. Part two is about these characters 30 years later as adults, with flashbacks to 1989 when they were kids.”
Previous director Cary Fukunaga had penned screenplays for both films with his writing partner, Chase Palmer. Once he came on board to take over the project, Muschietti worked on a rewrite of the first film with screenwriter Gary Dauberman (Annabelle: Creation). I suspect they are currently doing the same with the screenplay for the second film.
None of the adult cast members have been set so far, beyond Bill Skarsgard returning as Pennywise. With pre-production not beginning until March, I wouldn’t expect any major casting to come down the (stand)pipe until early next year. As with the first film, it will be produced by Dan Lin, Roy Lee, David Katzenberg. Barbara Muschietti, and Seth Grahame-Smith.
In the meantime, Muschietti will keep himself occupied by shooting the pilot for Hulu’s “Locke & Key“, as well as potentially helming multiple other episodes. The filmmaker also recently signed on to develop and direct Sony’s adaptation of the classic science fiction property Robotech.
It arrives in theaters on September 8th, 2017. Based on the above information, the sequel will likely arrive sometime in 2019. More as it comes.
