Director Andy Muschietti is faced with a very unique problem for a horror sequel. After the massive success of his “It: Chapter One,” he had to return with a new sequel that hopefully built upon the box office success of the first one, but with an entirely different cast. Through the very nature of the story, the fan-favorite cast from the first film was shoved aside to make room for the adult versions of their characters. But thanks to some clever filmmaking, it appears that Muschietti has figured out a way to include the old cast as much as possible.
Speaking to EW, the cast of “It: Chapter Two,” which includes James McAvoy, Bill Hader, Jessica Chastain, James Ransone, Jay Ryan, Andy Bean, and Isaiah Mustafa, talked about the new film, following on the heels of the first blockbuster, and how exactly they’re able to have pre-teen versions of themselves show up in a film that is supposedly going to take place in the modern day.
According to McAvoy, the trick comes with a specific scene in the new film where the Losers Club comes back together after 27 years to talk about the events of the first film. You see, after leaving the town of Derry, the members of the group of friends have mysteriously forgotten about Pennywise and his antics. So, when they meet up for Chinese food to discuss what’s going on, they’re flooded with memories of their younger selves. Thus, a great excuse to use the other actors.
“Instead of us just standing around going, ‘Oh, I remember that time,’ we get to show it to the audience,” McAvoy said. “Which is great, because that would be real sad if we had to say goodbye to that cast that the audience across the world fell in love with. And actually, in a weird way this movie resembles the structure of the book, in that it goes back and forth.”
READ MORE: Jaeden Martell Teases ‘It Chapter Two,’ ‘Knives Out’ & ‘Defending Jacob’ [KVIFF]
And the Losers aren’t the only people that have changed in the decades since the first film. The killer clown, Pennywise, has also grown to be a different beast.
“He’s scarier and he’s angrier,” said actor Bill Skarsgård. “There’s a couple of very brutal things in the film.”
“It: Chapter 2” arrives in theaters on September 6.
You can see new pictures from the film below:
