The 'Split' actor and the 'Barry' star/co-creator are in talks to join Jessica Chastain in the sequel to the 2017 box office hit.
- April 13, 2018
AceShowbiz - The terror of demon clown Pennywise may soon haunt James McAvoy and Bill Hader. The two actors are in negotiations to star in "It: Chapter 2", the follow-up to 2017's hit horror movie "It", according to The Hollywood Reporter.
McAvoy and Hader will play adult version of the members of the Losers Club. The "X-Men: Apocalypse" actor will play the role of the adult Bill Denbrough, the unofficial leader of the Losers Club who discovers the ancient evil in Derry while hunting for his missing brother. He grows up to be a successful author. When he returns to face his past, his old stutter resurfaces. Jaeden Lieberher played the character in the first movie.
Hader, meanwhile, will play the adult Richie Tozier, the jokester who grows up to be a DJ. Finn Wolfhard played the character in the first installment.
If the deal is sealed, the two actors will join Jessica Chastain who is already on board to play Beverly Marsh, originated by Sophia Lillis in the first movie. The lone female member of the club, Beverly ends up in an abusive marriage as an adult.
Bill Skarsgard will return as the shapeshifting clown Pennywise. The child actors, including Lieberher and Wolfhard, are also expected to return for the sequel in flashback scenes.
Andy Muschietti is back as the director, with Gary Dauberman writing the script once again. Barbara Muschietti, Dan Lin and Roy Lee are producing, while Seth Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg are set to serve as executive producers.
The director previously said that the kid elements in the next movie wouldn't just be brief throwbacks, but "they're a very big part of the action." He added, "On the second movie, that dialogue between timelines will be more present. If we're telling the story of adults, we are going to have flashbacks that take us back to the '80s and inform the story in the present day."
McAvoy starred in M. Night Shyamalan's 2016 psychological horror-thriller "Split" and will return for the sequel, "Glass". He also reprises his role as Charles Xavier / Professor X in "X-Men: Dark Phoenix".
As for Hader, he currently leads dark comedy series on HBO, "Barry", which he also co-created. The "Saturday Night Live" alum previously starred in romantic comedy "Trainwreck" and lent his voice in "Sausage Party" and "Finding Dory".
