MOVIE NEWS – Stephen King might not have had any involvement in 2017’s IT adaptation, still, it seems, that the famed horror author did provide some input for its sequel—this year’s It Chapter Two.

Andy Muschietti, who directed the first and second film as well, said during a recent interview that after finding out about King’s rave review for It Chapter One, he felt emboldened to reach out to the author himself while working on Chapter Two. “It was absolutely huge,” Muschietti said. “For me, it would be unthinkable when I was 12 or 13.” Apparently, King read a first draft of the new film, made some notes, and suggested adding “one all-new scene” that is original to the film. (Meaning, it’s not featured in the original novel or previous adaptations.)

When the first IT came out, Stephen King said, “I wasn’t involved at all. I wished them well.” This falls in line with what the author has done over the years when approaching a new adaptation of his work. He’s more than happy to allow people the creative freedom to interpret his words on the page, but he will let everybody know if it didn’t live up to his expectations. “Geez, I don’t even think they sent me any swag from that one! But maybe that’s a good thing. I’ve seen it, it’s fabulous,” King said when talking about the first instalment. This proves Andres Muschietti and crew left King alone while making the movie.

According to a new featurette, It Chapter Two will recapture the same aesthetic and emotion as the 2017 adaptation did, but will lean a little further into the horror. There will also be blood. Lots and lots of blood. The film will run for nearly three hours as well, but don’t worry—Muschietti swears the time will fly by. As the director put it, “Nobody who’s seen the movie has had any complaint.”

It was also revealed not long ago that IT Chapter Two will be three hours long. Some horror fans think the runtime might be a bit on the long side, but there are more than a few fans of the book who are welcoming it, hoping Andres Muschietti was able to pack in as much from the source material as humanly possible. Muschietti and crew lucked out when the first instalment became such a big hit. The success has allowed more creative freedom and a second chance to get the book right on the big screen.

Andres Muschietti doesn’t care about the uproar over the runtime and is confident horror fans will like what they see when the movie hits theatres this fall. Plus, they needed to add some extra time to throw Stephen King’s new idea into IT Chapter Two. It’s going to be interesting to see the movie and try and figure which of the new ideas came from King, though it’ll probably be pretty easy when all is said and done.

Source: Total Film