Bill Hader, James McAvoy in Talks to Join the Losers’ Club in It: Chapter 2
Photos by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty, Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty
Slowly but surely, the sequel to Andy Muschietti’s 2017 Stephen King adaptation sensation It is coming together. New Line began its casting on a high note in February, recruiting Jessica Chastain to star as an adult Beverly Marsh. Now, Bill Hader and James McAvoy are in talks to join the It: Chapter 2 cast, as well, as Variety reports.
McAvoy and Hader are in talks to play the adult versions of Bill Denbrough and Richie Tozier, who were played by Jaeden Lieberher and Finn Wolfhard, respectively, in the first film. Muschietti will return to direct the Gary Dauberman-scripted sequel, set 27 years after the events of the first installment, in which Bill, Richie, Beverly and the rest of the Losers’ Club took on Bill Skarsgård’s chilling antagonist, a demonic supernatural force that manifests as Pennywise the killer clown. Chapter 2 will see the adult Losers returning to their hometown of Derry, Maine, decades later for a climactic showdown with Pennywise.
Variety’s sources stress that Hader and McAvoy are in the early stages of negotiations, and that the film’s script is still being worked on. Those are two (well, three) of the many balls that are still in the air for the sequel: For instance, Muschietti has said he hopes to have the first film’s young actors return for flashbacks in the follow-up, but that’s not yet a sure thing. And there are still quite a few grown-up Losers to cast, including Chosen Jacobs’ Mike Hanlon, Jack Dylan Grazer’s Eddie Kaspbrak, Wyatt Oleff’s Stanley Uris and Jeremy Ray Taylor’s Ben Hanscom.