Jessica Chastain in Talks to Star in IT Sequel

Two-time Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain has entered negotiations to star in the sequel to 2017 horror sensation IT as an adult Beverly Marsh, the Losers’ Club member played by Sophia Lillis in Andy Muschietti’s spine-tingling Stephen King smash. Muschietti is expected to return to direct the sequel (though his deal has not yet closed) from a script by Gary Dauberman, with a release date set for Sept. 6, 2019.

Per Variety sources, negotiations between Chastain and New Line are in the early stages, and Dauberman’s script is not yet finished, but both sides have officially come to the table to discuss Chastain starring in the sequel. Production is expected to begin this summer, and the film is one of New Line’s top priorities going forward.

Assuming the studio can close the deal, Chastain is an absolute dream casting for this nightmarish follow-up—she has been linked to the IT sequel since Muschietti’s first chapter took the box office by storm last year, becoming the highest-grossing horror movie of all time. The director told Variety last fall that Chastain was his top choice to play adult Beverly, while Lillis told MTV News the very same thing. The casting also makes sense considering that Chastain starred in Muschietti’s English-language feature debut, acclaimed 2013 thriller Mama. She also has experience playing the adult version of a younger character in a big blockbuster: Chastain played a grown-up Mackenzie Foy in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar.

With Chastain on the verge of becoming the cast’s first A-list name, and Muschietti and Dauberman expected to return, along with breakout star Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise the clown, the second chapter of IT—in which the Losers’ Club return to their hometown of Derry, Maine as adults for a climactic showdown with Pennywise—appears poised for the same level of success that made the first film one of 2017’s best. We’re excited to see who comes onboard to play the rest of the Losers.

Chastain can currently be seen in Aaron Sorkin’s Molly’s Game, and will next appear in November’s X-Men: Dark Phoenix. Stay tuned for more on the IT sequel.