Who else cried themselves to sleep after watching the first two terrifying trailers of It: Chapter Two? Nobody? I guess it’s just me then. In all seriousness, the 5th of September cannot come soon enough. Andy Muschietti’s 2017 film It, which adapted the first half of Stephen King’s epic horror novel of the same name became a global phenomenon, grossing over $US 700 million worldwide (the highest-grossing horror movie of all time) and receiving positive reviews from critics as well.
It: Chapter Two is based on the second, more terrifying part of Stephen King’s book that takes place 27 years later. The kids have all grown up and Pennywise ain’t messing around anymore. Simply judging by the film’s runtime, it looks like the second chapter has the potential to live up to King’s dense and epic novel. It’s been confirmed that It: Chapter Two will have a runtime of 2 hours and 45 minutes, which is 30 minutes longer than the first film.
In a press conference (via Digital Spy), Andy Muschietti discusses the film’s lengthy runtime.
“A movie is very different when you’re writing the script and you’re building a story compared to what the final product is. At the beginning, when you’re writing and building the beats of the story, everything that you put in there seems very essential to the story. However, when you have the movie finally edited and it’s 4 hours long, you realise that some of the events and some of the beats can be easily lifted but the essence of the story remains intact.
You cannot deliver a 4-hour movie because people will start to feel uncomfortable – no matter what they see – but we ended up having a movie that is 2 hours and 45 minutes, and the pacing is very good. Nobody who’s seen the movie has had any complaint.”
It: Chapter Two official synopsis:
Twenty-seven years after the Losers Club defeated Pennywise, he has returned to terrorize the town of Derry once more. Now adults, the Losers have long since gone their separate ways. However, people are disappearing again, so Mike, the only one of the group to remain in their hometown, calls the others home. Damaged by the experiences of their past, they must each conquer their deepest fears to destroy Pennywise once and for all…putting them directly in the path of the shape-shifting clown that has become deadlier than ever.
It: Chapter Two is set to be released on 5 September 2019.
