'IT: Chapter Two' release date, plot rumors update: Bill Skarsgard wants Pennywise's backstory for sequel

Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise the Clown in "IT: Chapter One" Warner Bros.

With the remake's box office and critical success, as well as the hints of Pennywise's return in the post-credits scenes, "IT: Chapter Two" was inevitable. For now, fans only know that the second film will follow the Losers' Club after 27 years when IT awakens and begins feeding again, but Bill Skarsgard has a few other ideas in mind for the plot.

The 27-year-old actor, who played Pennywise the Clown in the recent movie adaptation, has high hopes that "IT: Chapter Two" will delve deeper into the demented mind of his character. Talking to IGN while promoting "Castle Rock" at the New York Comic-Con, Skarsgard said that the right way to do the adult version of the story is by making it "actively different" and delving into the psychological sides of horror.

"I think there might be worth exploring sort of the psychological aspects of horror, but also maybe the sort of cosmological existence of this being," he told the outlet. "What is he, and where does he come from?"

Skarsgard said Pennywise's origin was not fully explained. As far as the film is concerned, Pennywise is a clown who appears in various menacing forms to kids all over Derry. But in Stephen King's novel, it's a lot more complicated than that. There is a turtle god, a realm called deadlights, and a Ritual of Chüd.

Skarsgard already researched Pennywise's backstory, and he believes the elements above should be introduced in the next film. "It could be almost a sort of [serialized] sort of psychedelic trip if you go into the mind of Pennywise," he said.

"IT: Chapter Two" has already been confirmed. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema announced late September that the sequel would open in cinemas, including IMAX locations, on Sept. 6, 2019.

Gary Dauberman, one of the screenwriters in the first film, has penned a deal to return to head the screenplay. Director Andy Muschietti has yet to sign anything although he is expected to return as well.

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