IT Chapter Two Is Digitally De-Aging the Losers Club Kids

Director Andy Muschietti reveals the young version of The Losers Club will be digitally de-aged for IT Chapter Two.

We have some juicy new details regarding IT Chapter Two, straight from director Andy Muschietti. With the sequel mere weeks away at this point, the cast and filmmakers are going to start making the press rounds for what is easily one of the most highly-anticipated movies of 2019. Now, Muschietti has revealed that the sequel will be using de-aging technology on cast members that are already quite young, as well as explaining that Stephen King wrote a new scene for the movie.

First off, the young cast members who portrayed The Losers Club in the first movie will return in the sequel. However, in the two years since they filmed IT, they've grown up quite a bit. As such, crazy as it may sound, the studio is employing de-aging technology, as we've seen in Captain Marvel with Samuel L. Jackson, and as seen in the recent trailer for The Irishman, to get the cast looking like they did the first time around. Here's what Andy Muschietti had to say about it in a recent interview.

"From the beginning, we knew that that would be part of the budget, the visual effects to address that. So we're going to de-age the kids."

The adult Losers will be played by James McAvoy (Bill Denbrough), Jessica Chastain (Beverly Marsh), Bill Hader (Richie Tozier), Isaiah Mustafa (Mike Hanlon), Jay Ryan (Ben Hanscom), James Ransone (Eddie Kaspbrak) and Andy Bean (Stanley Uris). Speaking further, Andy Muschietti explained that Stephen King, who wrote the novel these movies are based on, really responded to the first movie. King reached out to the filmmaker and requested "one all-new scene," be added, which King wrote.

"It was absolutely huge. For me, it would be unthinkable when I was 12 or 13."

Stephen King has had issues with certain adaptations of his work in the past. So the fact that he wrote a brand new scene for this is not only exciting, but telling. Last, but not least, the director was discussing the casting of Jessica Chastain as Beverly Marsh, who was a popular choice amongst fans that wound up coming true. Chastain worked with Andy Muschietti on his movie Mama, so the connective tissue was there. Muschetti explains that they began talking about her casting before Chapter One was even released.

"It was even before releasing the first one. The [box-office] tracking was good, so we started talking about doing the second one before it was released, and, in a vaguely unofficial manner, we screened the movie to Jessica. She liked it and she was in immediately. She spilled her wine at one of the scares, so it was a success!"

In addition to the young cast members returning, Bill Skarsgard is also back as Pennywise. As far as we know, Skarsgard is going to look just as terrifying as he did last time around, without the need for de-aging technology. Just lots of makeup and a red balloon or two. IT Chapter Two is set to arrive in theaters on September 6 and presale tickets are available now. This news comes to us via Total Film Magazine.