IT: Chapter Two may have received mixed reviews from critics (64% on Rotten Tomatoes with a 6.18/10 average rating), but there’s no denying its financial success. The film grossed more than $US 180 million in its opening weekend alone. Not to mention, the first film is the highest-grossing horror movie of all time ($US 700 million). Despite covering the entirety of Stephen King’s story in Chapter One and Two, the financial success of those films has naturally kindled discussions about another addition to the film franchise.
In an interview with io9, It director Andy Muschietti discusses the possibility of exploring the mythology of Pennywise in another film.
“There is a whole mythology to the book though…Mythology is something that always has opportunities to explore. It [aka Pennywise] has been on Earth for millions of years. He’s been in contact with humans for hundreds of years, every 27 years. So you can imagine the amount of material. It’s always exciting to think of eventually exploring this mythology. It’s very exciting. But, for now, there’s nothing on the table.”
And it looks like Bill Skarsgard, who excellently portrays the psychotic mythical clown in both movies, is also very interested in an It prequel, though he admits that it needs to be handled properly. In an interview with EW, he said:
“It would have to be the right type of approach to it. The book ends where the second movie ends, so that is the final chapter of this story. There is this interesting aspect of going back in time before all this happened. There might be a story there that might be worth exploring. Obviously that would be a story that’s not in the book, it would be a freestanding story, but obviously within the same universe. So, there might be something interesting out of it. I think it would be fun.”
While I think the idea sounds intriguing, I’m not convinced that we actually need a prequel. For all its fancy visual effects and epic runtime, IT: Chapter Two was frankly a huge letdown. It also didn’t offer me enough to want this franchise to continue. Having said that, my thoughts may change depending on who’s working on the project. A different scriptwriter would certainly be a step in the right direction.
IT: Chapter Two is currently playing in Malaysian cinemas.
