James McAvoy and Bill Hader lined up for It: Chapter 2

It: Chapter 2 (Credit: New Line)
It: Chapter 2 (Credit: New Line)

With cameras set to roll on It: Chapter 2 this summer, more casting news is emerging, with Brit star James McAvoy and Bill Hader in talks to star in the horror sequel.

The sequel to the worldwide hit will pick up the story years later, with the members of the Losers Club in the small town of Derry now adults.

Jessica Chastain is already signed up, playing the grown up Beverley from the first movie, with McAvoy up for the role of Bill, played by Midnight Special star Jaeden Lieberher in last year’s movie.

Former SNL star Hader, meanwhile, is in talks for the role of Richie, played by Finn Wolfhard in the first movie, aka Mike from Stranger Things.

Once again Andy Muschietti will be in the directors chair, and according to Variety, Bill Skarsgard will be reprising his role as the shape-shifting clown Pennywise.

Bill Hader and James McAvoy (Credit: Getty)
Bill Hader and James McAvoy (Credit: Getty)

It’s also said that Muschetti is hoping to bring all the original child actors back too, to film new flashback sequences.

The first movie adapted the first section of Stephen King’s 1986 novel, about a group of kids terrorised by an ancient evil lurking in the sewers of their hometown in Maine.

The sequel will pick up the second half of the book, in which the same characters return to Derry years later to face Pennywise once more.

Costing a relatively tiny $35 million to make, the film was a smash for New Line Cinema, with a worldwide box office haul of just over $700 million.

It became the highest-grossing horror movie of all time, and the third highest-grossing adult-rated movie too.

It: Chapter 2 is set for release on September 6, 2019.

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