'It Chapter Two' Details Revealed: Everything From The First Film Has Been "Cranked Up"

As summer winds down, the Losers' Club is gearing up to head back to Derry in It Chapter Two. The sequel to the horror hit arrives in September, and the hype for the Stephen King adaptation is already at a fever pitch. The movie will have a big presence at San Diego Comic-Con this month, and director Andy Muschietti and the cast have opened up about what audiences can expect when Pennywise the Clown returns. Get the It Chapter Two details below.

During an interview with EW, director Andy Muschietti and some of the cast members of It Chapter Two revealed some not-too-spoilery details about the upcoming sequel. So what can we expect when the film arrives this September? According to Muschetti, the sequel will take everything we loved about the first movie, and turn things up a notch. "I think that everything that people love from the first one, like the humor and the emotions and the horror, will all be there," the director said, "and cranked up, in some cases." Muschietti also added that he wants the sequel to be an "overwhelming experience" for audience.

In It Chapter Two, the Losers' Club are all grown up. The majority of them have left the cursed town of Derry, Maine, but find themselves called back home when Pennywise the Clown returns. If you've read Stephen King's novel, or seen the 1990 miniseries adaptation, you might think you know where all this is going. But as was the case with the first film, screenwriter Gary Dauberman has taken some liberties with the material, and gone in new directions. "It's not the same as the book," Bill Hader tells EW. Hader plays the adult Richie, a character played as a kid by Finn Wolfhard in the first film. In King's novel, Richie has grown up to become a Howard Stern-like shock jock. In the 1990 movie, he's more of a stand-up comedian. According to Hader, the Richie in the new movie has a different gig – but he's not saying what it is. "But it'll be a real mindblower," Hader adds.

One character who does maintain his adult job from the novel is Bill, now played by James McAvoy. The adult Bill in the book is a novelist turned screenwriter, and so is the Bill in It Chapter Two. "He's in L.A. shooting a movie," McAvoy says. The Bill in King's novel is actually shooting a novel in England when he gets called back to Derry, but we can let that slide.

Another holdover from King's novel: Mike (Isaiah Mustafa) is still in Derry, and working as a librarian. "Mike sees how Derry is very special in a dark way," says Mustafa. "He's trying to figure out what the hell's going on in this town and what he can do to put an end to this cycle. It's an obsession for him." And just like in the book, all the adult Losers, save Mike, have forgotten the events of their childhood.

While the Losers' Club has grown into adulthood now, we're still going to spend time with the younger Losers from the first film. "Instead of us just standing around going, 'Oh, I remember that time,' we get to show it to the audience," McAvoy says. 'Which is great, because that would be real sad if we had to say goodbye to that cast that the audience across the world fell in love with. And actually, in a weird way this movie resembles the structure of the book, in that it goes back and forth."

From the sound of things, while there are definitely going to be some changes, It Chapter Two might end up being an adaptation closer to the novel than the first film, and that's exciting. It Chapter Two opens September 6, 2019.