Stephen King's It sequel is in the works — All we know about the film

While the movie adaptation of Stephen King's It has achieved much success at the box-office in India and across the globe, speculations about a possible sequel are already doing the rounds.

A still from It. Image courtesy: Twitter

The sequel will take off where Andrés Muschietti's film ended. The first installment only covered the first half of King's best-selling book, which is roughly 1000-pages long.

The first part of the film revolves around a group of young children who take on the evil clown Pennywise, who preyed on children in the small town of Derry, and put a temporary end to its terror.

As per the book, the group of children (known as the Losers' Club) make a blood oath to return to the old town after 27 years, if the clown is resurrected.

'It', as the name suggests, personifies all their worst fears and nightmares and takes the form of an evil clown, thus bringing the concept of coulrophobia (the fear of clowns) to the big screen in an iconic manner. King, through the novel, also explores the psychological ramifications that one's childhood fears can continue to have even in adulthood.

Speaking about the film, director Muschietti says, "In the book the perspective of the writing…is always with the Losers, so everything they know about Pennywise is very speculative and shrouded in absurdity. I wanted to respect that mystery feeling of not knowing what’s on the other side," reports Yahoo Movies.

[Spoiler Alert]

The film ends with the film's title — It — appearing on screen, followed by the words "Chapter One" (which is usually an indication of a sequel to come). The sound of Pennywise's giggle after the end credits roll just reinforces the fact that the plague of the malicious shape-shifting clown is not yet over.

In the novel, the return of the youngsters as adults forms the second half. The first half is set around the 1950s (1989 in the movie); then there is a progress of 27 years in the timeline.

Muschietti, revealing details of the film's "Chapter Two", says, "On the second movie, that dialogue between timelines will be more present. If we’re telling the story of adults, we are going to have flashbacks that take us back to the Eighties and inform the story in the present day," reports Entertainment Weekly.

Still from the film, It. Photo courtesy: Facebook/ Entertainment Weekly

The film will star all the young actors from the first installment for the flashback sequences, along with the newer cast.

According to the Entertainment Weekly report, Academy Award-nominees Jessica Chastain or Amy Adams might be reportedly seen in the role of Beverly Marsh. Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt may be cast as Ben Hamscom in the second film, reports suggest.

However, there is no official confirmation regarding the casting for the sequel from the makers, although Muschietti confirms that Skarsgard will feature in the film. He says, "We've got Pennywise, and it’s Bill Skarsgard," reports Entertainment Weekly.

Muschietti also reveals his plans for depicting the character arcs of the kids in the sequel. Mike Hanlon, who chooses to stay in Derry while everyone else leaves, will get more twisted and far weaker (physically and mentally) in comparison to his portrayal in the books. He will hold the key to the Pennywise's weaknesses, which he studies over 30 years, and in doing so he loses a lot of himself. Stan Uris, the character who doesn't return to Derry in the book commits suicide in stead of going through the horrific ordeal again. Muschietti also plans to delve into Uris' psyche in "Chapter Two" in order to tell the audience what might have caused him to take such a drastic step.

The upcoming film will also shed light on Pennywise — his background, origin, and weaknesses. Muschietti aims to depict the whole face-off between the monstrous clown and the children (as adults in the new film) on various levels — physical, mental, emotional and mystical.