They defeated It when they were kids, but the Losers' Club will have to face the ancient entity again as adults in IT: Chapter Two, and following recent potential casting reveals for the sequel, a new cinematographer is reportedly on board for the anticipated film.
Collider reports that Checco Varese will be the cinematographer for IT: Chapter Two. Chung-hoon Chung (2003's Oldboy, The Handmaiden) served as the director of photography on the first IT film, but as Collider points out, director Andy Muschietti could be looking for a different visual style in the sequel, which will take place around 27 years after the 1989-set first film, with the Losers' Club inevitably returning to their hometown of Derry to face the return of It, aka Pennywise. This change in visual style is also reflected with The Shape of Water production designer Paul Austerberry coming on board for the IT sequel (Claude Paré was the production designer on 2017's IT).
In addition to the upcoming IT sequel, Varese is no stranger to the world of horror, having worked on the TV pilot episodes for The Strain, True Blood, and Locke & Key, the lattermost of which was directed by Muschietti.
On the sequel's casting side, Variety previously reported that Bill Hader is in early talks to play the wisecracking Richie Tozier in IT: Chapter Two, while James McAvoy is in discussions to play an adult Bill Denbrough, who lost his little brother Georgie to It one fateful rainy day in his childhood.
Set nearly three decades after the 1989-set IT and based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, the sequel is expected to begin filming this summer in Toronto, with Andy Muschietti returning as director.
Variety previously reported that Jessica Chastain (Molly's Game, Mama, Zero Dark Thirty, Interstellar) was in early negotiations to play Beverly Marsh in the IT sequel, and according to Variety's latest report, it looks like she is still on board (at least at the negotiations stage).
Beverly was played by Sophia Lillis in 2017's IT, while Richie and Bill were played by Finn Wolfhard and Jaeden Lieberher, respectively. A story of strong friendships, strained families, and unimaginable horrors, IT (2017) follows a young group of outcasts known as the Losers' Club as they team up to face a manipulative force known as It that resurfaces every 27 years in their small town of Derry to feed on human flesh marinated by fear. The 2017 IT film was the second adaptation of King's epic 1986 novel (following the iconic Tim Curry performance in the 1990 miniseries adaptation) and raked in more than $700 million around the globe.
Gary Dauberman, who worked on the screenplay for the first IT movie and is also creating the script for an Are You Afraid of the Dark? movie, is writing the screenplay for New Line Cinema's IT: Chapter Two, which is slated for a September 6th, 2019 release from Warner Bros.
Bill Skarsgård is expected to reprise his role as Pennywise (one of It's favorite forms) in the sequel, and there could potentially be flashback scenes with the young cast of the first movie, although it's not yet confirmed if those will take place. We'll keep Daily Dead readers updated as more news is announced.
Photo by M. Gibson via IMDb:
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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