Halloween is closer than you think. But one reliable bellwether of the approaching spooky holiday is already on TV daily: trailers for horror movies. Quality horror, that is, not the dreck that gets dropped offseason. Like IT Chapter Two, the highly-anticipated follow-up to IT.
The first installment set box office records for the genre and with good reason—it was well-made, well-written, and flat-out terrifying.
If trailers coming out for Chapter Two are any indication, it could even raise the bar. The latest example is the relatively brief IMAX teaser above. It moves along with a sense of dread, sure, but saves the nightmare fuel for the last few frames. Which if you haven’t seen it yet, we won’t give away. But you might jump.
As a refresher, here’s the IT Chapter Two synopsis and cast list from Warner Bros:
Because every 27 years evil revisits the town of Derry, Maine, “It Chapter Two” brings the characters—who’ve long since gone their separate ways—back together as adults, nearly three decades after the events of the first film.
Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain (“Zero Dark Thirty,” “Mama”) stars as Beverly, James McAvoy (“Split,” upcoming “Glass”) as Bill, Bill Hader (HBO’s “Barry,” “The Skeleton Twins”) as Richie, Isaiah Mustafa (TV’s “Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments”) as Mike, Jay Ryan (TV’s “Mary Kills People”) as Ben, James Ransone (HBO’s “The Wire”) as Eddie, and Andy Bean (“Allegiant,” Starz’ “Power”) as Stanley. Reprising their roles as the original members of the Losers Club are Jaeden Martell as Bill, Wyatt Oleff as Stanley, Jack Dylan Grazer as Eddie, Finn Wolfhard as Richie, Sophia Lillis as Beverly, Chosen Jacobs as Mike, and Jeremy Ray Taylor as Ben. Bill Skarsgård returns in the seminal role of Pennywise.
In the novel by Stephen King, the adult members of the Losers Club had virtually forgotten their terrifying childhood encounters with Pennywise, save for Isaiah Mustafa’s Mike, who stayed in the Maine town where so many spooky things happen.
They don’t fully recall until they’re back in town and trying to figure out just what they’re doing there, and Pennywise is around to serve as a helpful and horrific reminder.
If there’s one movie that’s likely to totally dominate the fall box office, it’s this one.
IT Chapter 2 slithers into theaters September 6.
