It, directed by Andy Muschietti, is currently storming cinemas all over the world, smashing horror box office records as it goes. The film is a cinematic re-telling of the classic Stephen King novel, and is wowing critics and audiences alike. We absolutely loved It, Muschietti somehow managed to create a Goonies meets Stand by Me vibe despite its horror backdrop. The story has been transplanted from the 50’s to the 80’s and followed The Loser’s Club as they battle Pennywise the Dancing Clown as children.
Those familiar with King’s source material, or the 1990 television mini-series, know that the Loser Club’s efforts aren’t as successful as they would have hoped, and they come face-to-face with Pennywise again as adults. Now, the first film ends with the text ‘Chapter One’, and we know a sequel is already in the works. Chapter Two will of course primarily focus on the 27-years-older versions of The Losers Club (remember Pennywise attacks every 27 years), but the cast have yet to be announced. With that in mind we’ve devised our dream list of actors for The Losers Club 27 years later…
Stanley Uris
Stanley (Wyatt Oleff) is the boy-scout son of the local Rabbi, and whom is easily the most nervous of The Losers Club. He’s one of the first to denounce that anything sinister is happening, purely because he cannot cope with that being his reality. As an adult Stan doesn’t feature too heavily in the story (those that have read the book or seen the show will know why) but for the short time he’s on-screen Ben Foster is an ideal choice. Foster has been in the business for years, working his way through the minefield of teen rom-coms (Get Over It) to some very strong indie dramas (Hell or High Water, Alpha Dog) as well as featuring in tent-pole titles such as Warcraft and X-Men: The Last Stand. At 37 he’s slightly younger than the magic age of 40 that his character would be, but given that he’d be barely in the film, we think he’ll pass.
Mike Hanlon
Mike (Chosen Jacobs) joins The Losers Club under unfortunate circumstances, but soon forms a bond with them. Living with his Grandfather after the death of his parents, he is home-schooled and spends his free-time helping out on the family farm, slaughtering sheep (not the best childhood job). He’s known around town as the Derry outcast so it’s surprising to know that in the future he’s become the town librarian. Our choice for grown-up Mike is none other than Chadwick Boseman. Boseman might be a little busy with the beast that is the Marvel cinematic universe, but should he have time, we think he’d be pretty damn perfect.
Eddie Kaspbrak
It seems that every fictional gang has a hypochondriac mother’s boy (at least anything from the 80’s and 90’s). In The Losers Club that position is filled by Eddie (Jack Dylan Grazer). Eddie lives alone with his mother and is controlled by his pill schedule; during the film, with help from The Losers Club, he starts to gain some independence. When we next meet Eddie we think that Lee Pace could do a fantastic job. Pace may be better known for his lighter roles, but usually comedians handle horror surprisingly well and Pace could show a different side of himself to what we’ve seen before.
Richie Tozier
Richie Tozier is the jokester of the group, a much needed element given all the scary goings-on. Played by Finn Wolfhard of Stranger Things fame as a child, we think he could grow-up nicely to become Seth Green. Green was of course in the original, and actually played young Richie, so who could be more perfect to play the older version? He’s done a lot of voice work in recent years and has also focused on running his own animation company, but it’s definitely time for him to appear in front of the camera again, and what better way than with one of his roles that first caught our attention.
Ben Hanscom
Ben (Jeremy Ray Taylor) is the new kid in town, and the first to notice that there is something not quite right with the town of Derry. He’s also part of the love triangle within The Losers Club, a plot thread that will be explored further during adulthood. In the original mini-series old Ben was played by the late John Ritter, this time our monies hoping for Paul Rudd. The role of Ben needs to be slightly shy, but very charming. Rudd’s already proved that he’s capable of this way back in his career with his role of Josh in Clueless. He’s also not new to the horror circuit, he managed to survive Michael Myers not once, but twice, very early in his career.
Beverly Marsh
The only girl in the group is Beverly (Sophia Lillis) and her inclusion causes more than a few faster beating hearts within the rest of the gang. As young Beverly, Sophia Lillis did an amazing job with the part. She has a lot of tough subject matter to deal with, namely an abusive father, as well as having the wrong reputation about town. The part has many layers of complexity and it will take someone very special to be able to carry the baton. We think that person is none other than Jessica Chastain, and not just because she’s a fellow redhead. Chastain is one heck of an actress, and better still, Director Andy Muschietti has previously worked with Chastain on Mama so there is already a relationship. Plus she was born in 1977 so she’s also pretty much exactly spot on the age that The Losers Club will be when they next do battle with Pennywise.
Bill Denbrough
Finally we get to the leader of The Losers Club, Bill Denbrough. Bought to life by the very talented Jaeden Lieberher in the current film, Bill is a role full of woe. He never quite recovers from losing his brother Georgie, and continues to be plagued by feelings of guilt in later life. After having such good foundations laid in the first film, just who can jump into Silver’s saddle? We might not have seen much of him in recent years, but Tobey Maguire is our top pick for the next generation Bill. He can handle tough gritty roles as well as shouldering a franchise, and frankly looks exactly how we imagine Lieberher might in another 27 years. Seriously how are these two not related?
Hopefully it won’t be too long until the actual cast are revealed, but we’ve got everything crossed that at least some of our choices make the cut. If you want to see what all the fuss is about, catch It in cinemas everywhere now.
Kat Hughes is a UK born film critic and interviewer who has a passion for horror films. An editor for THN, Kat is also a Rotten Tomatoes Approved Critic. She has bylines with Ghouls Magazine, Arrow Video, Film Stories, Certified Forgotten and FILMHOUNDS and has had essays published in home entertainment releases by Vinegar Syndrome and Second Sight. When not writing about horror, Kat hosts micro podcast Movies with Mummy along with her five-year-old daughter.
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