IT CHAPTER TWO Had to De-Age Young Cast Members With Visual Effects

Throughout the history of cinema, filmmakers have had to use special effects to make their performers appear younger or older than they really are to craft a more effective production. Films were previously limited by what practical effects could be used, while advances in CGI have allowed for far more convincing aging effects. These techniques are often used to age a character by decades, but with the upcoming IT CHAPTER TWO, de-aging effects will be used to create more subtle changes. While only a few years have passed since we last saw the film’s young cast, their appearances have changed enough to require de-aging effects.

“From the beginning, we knew that that would be part of the budget, the visual effects to address that,” director Andy Muschietti shared with Total Film [h/t SYFY] about altering the cast’s appearance. “So we’re going to de-age the kids.”

The original IT was filmed in 2016 while a majority of this year’s sequel was filmed in 2018. As any fan of Stranger Things can tell you, a teenage actor can go through a lot of changes from one year to the next, with Finn Wolfhard, who also stars in IT, looking noticeably different from one season to the next.

In IT CHAPTER TWO, 27 years after the Losers’ Club defeated Pennywise, he has returned to terrorize the town of Derry once more. Now adults, the Losers have long since gone their separate ways. However, kids are disappearing again, so Mike, the only one of the group to remain in their hometown, calls the others home. Damaged by the experiences of their past, they must each conquer their deepest fears to destroy Pennywise once and for all…putting them directly in the path of the clown that has become deadlier than ever.

The passage of time between the first and second films means a group of adult actors will be the focus of the upcoming sequel, with it being unclear how much footage will focus on the younger Losers’ Club. Luckily, with those scenes being used as flashbacks, any discrepancies in their appearance could potentially be chalked up to misremembering those moments.

The new film stars James McAvoy as Bill, Jessica Chastain as Beverly, Bill Hader as Richie, Isaiah Mustafa as Mike, Andy Bean as Stanley, Jay Ryan as Ben, and James Ransone as Eddie. Bill Skarsgard returns to play Pennywise the Dancing Clown.

IT CHAPTER TWO lands in theaters on September 6th.

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