The first teaser trailer for September’s IT Chapter 2 compels viewers to “Witness The End Of It,” but we have to ask, is it the end? The first IT from 2017 is the biggest horror film of all time, and with plenty of Pennywise’s history to mine, not to mention Stephen King’s own multiverse, a spinoff to the IT franchise wouldn’t be surprising. However, that does not appear to be in the cards according to IT Chapter 2 screenwriter Gary Dauberman, who said:
I’m sure there’s interest but I gotta say. We want to be respectful to the material of the book. I don’t think anybody’s over there, in fact I know there’s no one over there going ‘Hey, let’s definitely do this and we could tell this story of what happened at the beaver trapping camp,’ or whatever.
Based on Gary Dauberman’s comments to Bloody Disgusting, there might be interest in the possibility, but there are no definitive plans for the IT franchise to spinoff at this present time. At least from his end, there seems to be a sense of responsibility to stay true to Stephen King’s novel and not bastardize that it any way for the purpose of continuing the franchise longer than it needs to go or branching out to make more money.
While there may not be any firm plans at the moment, and the folks at Warner Bros would presumably want to get Stephen King’s blessing first, Gary Dauberman did mention the story of the beaver trapping camp when the spinoff possibility was raised to him. He was referencing the history of It and of Derry itself. The town of Derry, Maine began as a beaver trapping camp in the 18th century and the settlers awoke It, who had crashed there on an asteroid thousands of years prior.
It is worth noting that the teaser trailer seemed to be implying a different origin for It, with Mrs. Kersh speaking about her father joining the circus and the picture of Pennywise the Dancing Clown, making her the daughter of Pennywise. You can see that picture below.
Either way, a spinoff film could potentially explore It’s reign of terror in different time periods, since he’s been around for hundreds of years. The idea of colonial settlers facing this supernatural menace is quite intriguing and it wouldn’t have to fall into that all too common horror pitfall of over-explaining the villain’s origin. We don’t need to see It in its home dimension or other members of its species.
New Line Cinema and Warner Bros may not have plans to explore the beaver trapping camp or any other aspect of It’s history in a spinoff film at the moment, but Gary Dauberman did admit that he thinks there is room to build on the mythology of the character. Whether or not that will happen in the future, he cannot say.
It will also be interesting to see if IT Chapter 2 explores any of It/Pennywise’s history. Bill Skarsgård, who plays the evil clown, said that the first film almost included a flashback scene to the 1600s. That scene was shot, so we’ll have to see if it or something like it makes its way into the sequel.
We don’t have long to see the end of It, for now at least, IT Chapter 2 opens in theaters on September 6. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to keep track of all the biggest movies headed your way the rest of this year.
