If you’ve ever held a copy of Stephen King’s best-selling novel, “It,” in your hands, you probably know just how dense the story actually is. The novel clocks in well over 1,000 pages, and thus, it’s almost impossible to include every little detail of the plot over the course of two films. Alas, that’s the mission of filmmaker Andy Muschietti and writer Gary Dauberman, as they work to bring the second of two “It” films to the big screen later this year.
And in a new interview with THR, Dauberman explained that even one of the more controversial scenes, depicting a hate crime, from King’s book will find its way into the new sequel.
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“It is an iconic scene in the book and one we wanted to include in the movie,” Dauberman said.
For those that haven’t read the novel, Stephen King’s “It” features a scene where a character Adrian Mellon (played in the film by Xavier Dolan) is the victim of hate crime, due to his sexuality.
“It is the first attack in present-day Derry and sets the stage for what Derry has become,” the writer explained. “It is the influence of Pennywise even while he is hibernating, and it’s pure evil what happens to Adrian. These bullies working through Pennywise was important for us to show.”
As we saw in the first film, even when Pennywise isn’t on screen, the evil he manifests infects the entire town of Derry. So, in the sequel, it appears that evil has permeated Derry yet again, leading to the people beating Adrian. The hate crime won’t be the only social issue brought up by the new film. The writer also confirmed that domestic violence will also be discussed in regards to Jessica Chastain’s Beverly character.
It’ll be interesting to see how people feel about the scene when it’s shown in the film. In recent years, a lot of interest has surrounded the depiction of gay characters on screen, as well as any issues with a character’s treatment due to their sexuality. Will it be a significant moment in the horror film, or will people be upset? We’ll soon find out, as “It: Chapter Two” arrives in theaters on September 6.