Last night Conan O’Brien took the stage at San Diego’s Spreckles Theatre to host a panel discussion with IT Chapter 2 Director Andy Muschietti and the entire adult cast of the upcoming horror film. James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan, and James Ransone flanked O’Brien and Muschietti who sat center stage to a packed house of fans feverishly eager to soak in the new trailer for the film, that was released this morning.

The 90-minute presentation was held on the Wednesday “Preview Night” of the pop-culture convention held in San Diego annually.

IT CHAPTER TWO - Final Trailer [HD]

The trailer played for the hyped crowd was met with a torrent of cheers. In the preview, we get a better look at the entire loser’s club as they all convene on Derry, Maine 25 years later. Mike (Isaiah Mustafa) has remained in the town and has called the Loser’s Club back home to fight the evil they assumed they had vanquished years before.  We get a far more unhinged version of Pennywise. Ravenous and vengeful, the fear-thirsty creature pursues the Losers and hunts new victims.

 

Muschietti explained that, in developing a two-part film around one of fiction’s most celebrated stories, he began with the casting of the kids first and went from there. Then, after capturing performance that had a hold on the audience, the adult cast was formed with the eye of doing the solid performances from the younger cast justice.

What was it like working on a set filled with comedians, prestige actors, and a maniacal clown? Controlled chaos. The cast recounted how, through it all, Muschietti was laser-focused on getting exactly what he was looking for, sometimes with seemingly endless takes.  Despite the hard work Hader explained that while “Andy was great,” Hader himself has a hard time acting “scared explaining that his reaction to fear was always an engaged, “gotcha” smile. Getting serious, for once, Hader did explain that the film really is about childhood trauma and confronting the past.

The film apparently also has the distinction of using the most blood in any single scene, one that Chastain was asked to submerge completely in 4,500 gallons of chilled stage blood. Why Chilled? McAvoy explained, “Well, the fake blood is, essentially syrup. When that sugar starts to ferment, it begins to smell like puke. so, well, we had to keep it cold.” This meant that Chastain was glazed in freezing cold, red syrup for days. Bill Hader interjected with an imitation of Chastain shivering and walking onto the set.

MINOR SPOILERS

• We were next treated to a scene in which the Losers reunite at a Chinese restaurant. This was apparently the first scene shot with the team together, but you wouldn’t know it.  Their rapport is infectious as they reminisce. Then, of course, as the conversation turns to why they are all there, things get dark, quick, with a special surprise at the end of their meal.
• In a second clip, we see an extended look at McAvoyattempting to save a child from the clutches of Pennywise, following the child into a carnival funhouse. Of course, that’s where this would happen, right? This one gets rough as Bill (McAvoy) watches helplessly through a pane of glass as Pennywise slowly closes in on a child.
• Our final clip has the Losers entering the Nebolt house 25 years later to kill Pennywise once and for all. Yes the place is still there, and even more disturbing. Ending up in the kitchen, we see what I would call the most disturbing footage for the night. Something happens that had the crowd squealing in delight/disgust. We see in this clip that Muschietti is really pushing things with how far he will take the gore. So so good.

 

We have to admit we are crazy excited to see this next chapter. What Muschietti, screenwriter Gary Dauberman, and the cast have been able to accomplish, from the clips shown, was far more terrifying than the first film and a lot more emotionally resonant. Can we just skip to September 6th now when It Chapter 2 will be released in theaters?

 

Who’s excited?