It’s official: You can’t keep a good clown down.
Pennywise will be back on the big screen for the It sequel in 2019, with director Andy Muschietti and screenwriter Gary Dauberman returning behind the camera.
The second chapter in the two-part horror saga based on Stephen King’s celebrated novel will premiere September 6, 2019, according to an announcement made by New Line Cinema. That puts the sequel in theaters almost exactly two years after the first installment began its record-breaking run.
The studio’s announcement indicates that the young actors from the first film will return for the sequel, although the film is expected to focus on the experiences of the adult versions of their characters. Like its predecessor, the It sequel will also be shown in large-screen IMAX theaters.
Set 27 years after the events of the first film, the sequel brings the “Losers Club” back together when Pennywise returns to torment their Maine hometown once again. Muschietti has hinted that the sequel might not unfold in exactly the same way as King’s original novel, so the movie could hold some surprises for fans of the book.
After premiering in U.S. theaters September 8, It went on to have the biggest opening weekend of all time for a horror movie, as well as for any film released in the month of September. It also had the second-biggest debut of all time for an “R”-rated movie, ranking just behind Deadpool. By its third weekend in theaters, the film had earned $266.3 million domestically, making it the highest-grossing “R”-rated horror movie of all time in U.S. theaters, passing former record-holder The Exorcist ($232.9 million).
Along with bringing back Bill Skarsgård as the terrifying entity known as Pennywise the Dancing Clown, the sequel will feature the return of young cast members from the first film, including Jaeden Lieberher, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer, and Nicholas Hamilton. The actors playing the adult versions of the first film’s child characters have yet to be announced.
Muschietti previously indicated that the script for the second film will likely be completed by January 2018, with production expected to begin a few months later.