

“Stephen is very respectful of adaptations, and our communications with him started when we were nearly finished with the first chapter. The first time we talked was after he saw IT, and he had good things to say. “I actually wanted to involve him more in this film,” notes Muschietti. Muschietti has a collaborative relationship with screenwriter Gary Dauberman, who wrote both IT and I T2, but the duo were also honoured and thrilled that Stephen King was happy to give them feedback. I couldn’t have been more excited to jump in and start imagining what that would be.” This second chapter is as necessary to tell as the first. I shared the moviegoers’ need to see the second half of the story, the conclusion. Basically, if IT returns, the Losers will, too. “People became emotionally invested in the characters and the story, and at the end of the movie, there was a promise of something to come. “The hook effect in the whole thing was incredible,” says the Argentine director, who first achieved widespread critical acclaim with his 2013 horror Mama. While the first film was busy racking up critical praise and box-office records, Muschietti had already plunged headlong into writing the final chapter of what was always meant to be a two-film adaptation of Stephen King’s novel – but the fan enthusiasm certainly added to the sense of urgency. Muschietti, though, never really escaped Pennywise’s clutches. But they must yet again face their deepest fears to destroy Pennywise once and for all – which means, the audience must, too. Now adults, the Losers have long since gone their separate ways, and don’t fully remember the terror that once plagued them.

In the sequel to the highest-grossing horror film of all time, director Andy Muschietti reunites the Losers Club, 27 years after the adolescents defeated Pennywise.
