The new trailer for It: Chapter Two arrived today, and with it a lot more updates on the horror sequel. We’ve already heard from Jessica Chastain and the inclusion of more blood in the movie, while the reception to the preview so far has been overwhelmingly positive. Now, we’ve learnt that Bill Hader slipped in a tribute to John Carpenter’s The Thing as part of his role as the adult Richie Tozier in the film.
Speaking at a San Diego Comic-Con event, Hader admitted that one particularly notable piece of improvisation made it into the final cut. When recording additional dialogue for the sequel, he had to improvise different reactions to a so-far unknown (but likely pretty bizarre) scene and the actor went with the classic line from The Thing: “You’ve got to be fucking kidding.”
The line itself comes from the classic moment in the 1980s movie when an emergency medical operation reveals the titular Thing, who emerges in one of the more famous moments in special effects history. The disbelieving response, in this case, came from David Clennon’s Palmer. It’s nice to hear that Hader’s reference made it into It: Chapter Two though, a nice touch given how It updated Stephen King’s novel from the 1950s to the 1980s for the childhood sequences.
We wouldn’t be surprised if there are more of these references in the finished picture, too, as well as plenty of easter eggs for King fans to digest. From what we’ve heard so far, It: Chapter Two is going to amp up the gore and showcase an even more sadistic side to Pennywise than the first movie. Today’s trailer certainly does little to disprove that notion, and we can’t wait for the September 6th premiere.
Expect lots more It: Chapter Two coverage this week as we turn our attention to San Diego Comic-Con. We’ll be following all the news, theories, and potential new footage from the Stephen King adaptation as it comes in from the convention, so be sure to check back in for more on arguably the biggest horror release of the year.