When the big-screen adaptation of “It” debuted at the box office in 2017, it landed with a massive splash — becoming the highest grossing R-rated horror film in history, raking in the biggest box office sales for an adaptation of a Stephen King novel and eventually earning more than $700 million worldwide.
So as “It: Chapter Two” heads to theaters, is the Losers Club feeling the pressure to deliver another box office hit?
“I feel zero pressure,” Jessica Chastain — who stars as adult Beverly Marsh — told Variety’s Marc Malkin at the film’s Los Angeles premiere. “This ain’t my machine…I’m a peg. We’re all a part of the machine, I’m like a screw in the machine.”
Bill Hader — who agreed that the pressure to deliver is “all on other people” — joins Chastain in the sequel alongside James McAvoy (Bill), James Ransone (Eddie), Isaiah Mustafa (Mike), Jay Ryan (Ben) and Andy Bean (Stan). The adults all star as the older versions of the first film’s “Losers,” Finn Wolfhard, Sophia Lillis, Chosen Jacobs, Jaeden Martell, Nicholas Hamilton, Wyatt Oleff and Jack Dylan Grazer.
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As return players, the young actors shared a different perspective than their elder counterparts. Lillis (young Beverly) and Taylor (Ben) admitted to being shaken up by the pressure to match their highly-rated and highly-lucrative performance a second time, pointing out how daunting of a task it is to star in the films in the first place.
“It was a lot of pressure on the first one. To make a feature adaptation from Stephen King — such a legendary writer — people were really upset about it,” Taylor explained. “To turn that in and do him justice is really hard to do and Andy [Muschietti, who directed both films] nailed it.”
Of the box office, Grazer predicts the sequel will top the first film. “I think we’ll exceed it this time. I might be going out on a limb, but fingers crossed.”
“We literally got it ourselves to make the best film possible, a film we’re incredibly proud of,” producer Barbara Muschietti added. “If it makes $699 [million] or if it makes $702 or God knows what, we’re still proud.”
“It: Chapter Two” is in theaters on Sept. 6.