IT CHAPTER TWO Writer Confirms Film Keeps Controversial Plot Points

Author Stephen King has never shied away from pushing boundaries with his writing, whether it be the otherworldly horrors he conjures or his depictions of more common, yet just as frightening occurrences. In the 1986 novel IT, King detailed how Beverly was in a relationship in which her partner was abusive, in addition to a gay character being beaten and then killed in Derry, Maine long after our protagonists have left town behind. Tragically, these sequences are everyday encounters for people all over the world, yet the 1990 miniseries adaptation of the novel opted to avoid these sequences. Gary Dauberman, who wrote both IT and IT CHAPTER TWO, recently assured that these details would be featured in the upcoming sequel.

“It is an iconic scene in the book and one we wanted to include in the movie,” Dauberman shared with The Hollywood Reporter in regards to Adrian Mellon’s assault by homophobic residents of Derry. “It is the first attack in present-day Derry and sets the stage for what Derry has become.”

The first film depicted the young Losers’ Club facing off against a supernatural presence that has been haunting their town for centuries, with the group believing to have eradicated the threat. The attack on Adrian, and his murder by Pennywise, is one of the events that cause the adult Losers’ Club to return to their home town.

“It is the influence of Pennywise even while he is hibernating, and it’s pure evil what happens to Adrian,” the writer noted. “These bullies working through Pennywise was important for us to show.”

Dauberman also confirmed that Beverly’s abuse will be featured in the new film, with the first teaser offering a glimpse of the bruises she suffers from her partner.

One scene that is still deemed too controversial to be put into either film is a scene in which the teen-aged members of the Losers’ Club all have sex with Beverly. For as beloved as the novel is, this scene in IT has become one of the more problematic issues that fans have debated about for decades.

“I wasn’t really thinking of the sexual aspect of it,” King himself shared on his website of the moment back in 2013. “The book dealt with childhood and adulthood –1958 and Grown Ups. The grown ups don’t remember their childhood. None of us remember what we did as children–we think we do, but we don’t remember it as it really happened. Intuitively, the Losers knew they had to be together again. The sexual act connected childhood and adulthood. It’s another version of the glass tunnel that connects the children’s library and the adult library. Times have changed since I wrote that scene and there is now more sensitivity to those issues.”

IT CHAPTER TWO lands in theaters on September 6th.

Are you glad these scenes will be included in the sequel? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!

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