“Let’s kill this fucking clown.”
Beep beep, Richie. Though, to be fair, when Bill Hader dropped that instantly iconic line on the crowd gathered in San Diego for Comic-Con’s ScareDiego to learn more about It Chapter Two, the roof of the Spreckels Theater nearly blew all the way to Derry.
Warner Bros. wasn’t clowning around (sorry) as the studio kicked off this year’s festivities with their annual ScareDiego presentation, this time focusing on the upcoming sequel It Chapter Two.
Director Andy Muschietti returned to the chair to helm this eagerly anticipated follow up to It, the surprise hit adaptation of half of Stephen King’s seminal novel. We say “surprise” because while fans likely thought It would do well, few probably predicted that it would bank $700 million in global ticket sales.
Muschietti, this evening, was flanked on stage by his It Chapter Two cast – including Hader, James McAvoy, Jay Ryan, James Ransone and Jessica Chastain – as they presented the latest trailer and three full, and fully disturbing, scenes.
The sequel continues the story of The Losers’ Club, who – after defeating Pennywise the Clown – must have realized all wasn’t finished. They took a blood oath to return to Derry if Pennywise ever resurfaced. Well, guess what? The clown is back in action, and the terror is about to begin all over again.
In addition to the trailer, Warner Bros. brought three lengthy scenes to ScareDiego.
In the first, the Losers are reuniting at the Jade of the Orient restaurant. Mike Hanlon (Isaiah Mustafa) has summoned his old friends back, because he’s spotting a trend that suggests the return of Pennywise. But what’s on display in the restaurant scene is the chemistry of the adult cast… and the proof that Bill Hader is ABSOLUTELY PERFECT as adult Richie Tozier. “Trash Mouth” has so many hysterical lines, and they are expertly timed to cut through the tension. Because the scene grows very tense by the time all is said and done.
The carnival spotted in the trailers is the location of the second scene we watched, and James McAvoy’s Bill Denbrough is the focus. He’s feverishly chasing after a young boy, trying to prevent him from walking into a Pennywise trap. And Bill’s pursuit brings all three of them into a house of mirrors, where nothing is as it seems.
McAvoy, in the post-footage conversation, said the filming of that scene was horrifying, for so many reasons. First, he was trapped in a funhouse with Bill Skarsgard’s clown. Second, mirror halls freak McAvoy out. Watching this scene play out, I can completely understand why.
The final scene that Warner Bros. showed at ScareDiego was a return to the Neibolt House from the original movie. It was during this scene that Hader, as Richie, summoned the courage to “kill this fucking clown.” But no one reading this is prepared for how disturbing the Neibolt sequence will be in It Chapter Two. Remember when Pennywise unfolded himself from the inside of a refrigerator? You will be begging for something sweet and funny like that after you see what Muschietti has in store in this sequel. It’s amazing.
Andy Muschietti directs It Chapter Two, which concludes this epic two-part adaptation of Stephen King’s classic tale. Audiences will be able to see the full presentation of It Chapter Two when the movie opens in theaters on September 6.
CinemaBlend will be at San Diego Comic-Con all weekend, so keep it locked in here as we bring you updates and reactions from all of the major film and TV panels at the con.
