Pennywise will live to haunt again as the ‘It’ sequel is already in the works at New Line…
Friday will mark the debut of the New Line adaptation of the classic Stephen King novel ‘It’ with early estimations making it one of the most successful ‘R’ rated horror film openings of all time.
So with that New Line has already greenlit a sequel for ‘It’ with plans coming together for a writer and director on the film.
Gary Dauberman, who was one of the writers on the first ‘It’ movie, has signed a deal to return to pen the sequel with director Andy Muschietti in talks to hopefully return to helm the second film as well.
A sequel to the movie seemed like a no brainer considering the way King’s story is told with half of the book taking place while the main characters are children and the other half taking place 27 years later when they are adults. Still, the studio wanted to make sure the interest was there in the first film before committing to a sequel but with high critical praise and a big opening weekend expected, that was enough to get on board with a second movie.
‘It’ opening this weekend will only focus on the earlier part of the story set in the 1980’s with the “Loser’s Club” banding together to fight an eternal evil they call ‘it’. While the book flashes backwards and forwards numerous times, the film being released on Friday solely focuses on the early part of the story with the characters as children.
The ‘It’ sequel will then take place 27 years later with the kids grown into adults when they face the malevolent force for a second time in their lives.
There’s no word yet on any casting for the sequel considering the script hasn’t even been written yet but it’s likely production will come together rather quickly to get the second film ready for release.
‘It’ is in theaters nationwide today.
