Ever notice how directors sometimes think that their vision needs to keep extending past the source material that made their movies so great in the first place? Well unless good sense and reason prevail it almost sounds as though Andres Muschietti, the man responsible for IT: Chapter 2, might think about adding to the mythology of Pennywise following the movie. Kevin Burwick of MovieWeb is just one of the several that are dropping this potentially disastrous rumor on the reading populace today as the idea of continuing something that had a definitive end in the book and should therefore have an epic ending in the movie has somehow blossomed in the dark that’s left behind. And what’s the issue with it you might ask? Well, as disappointing as the end of the book was, and die hard Stephen King fans can surely agree that the end of IT was kind of a letdown after such a tremendous buildup, the movie has gone on to surpass expectations at this point, and we can only hope that it continues to do so. This is is also easy to think about since apparently King has written a scene into the movie that wasn’t initially in the book to start with.
But Andres idea to continue the mythology of Pennywise is more than just a bold move, it’s something that could end up backfiring on him in a big and very disastrous manner. It’s very true that there is a great deal that people don’t understand about the deranged presence that hides behind the clown, but that’s been one of the biggest draws of the story for a long, long time now, and in truth it’s one that we’ve relied on since even with the disappointing end of the book, there was still the idea that there might be something left to the imagination that we couldn’t quite see. What Andres is thinking of, in a sense, is going hunting after the monster once again after it’s been supposedly slain and laid bare for the world to see, only to reawaken it with belief yet again in order to delve a little deeper and lay bare the inner workings of something that humanity might not be ready for.
That sounds vague and hard to fathom doesn’t it? There’s a reason for that, and it has to do with an idea that has yet to take form is something great, wonderful, and inherently unknowable since it can’t be readily defined, shaped, or put into a neat little box as humanity is so willing to do. The moment that idea is captured, played with, and put into a form that we can fully grasp, it ceases to become that wonderful little tidbit, and loses a lot of its luster. As an author and a writer I look for this wonder just as much as anyone else, but tend to keep a distance at times in order to keep that part of the overall Story alive, to maintain a distance that allows that mythology that we all love so much free to flit about and tease us now and again with just the mere hint of its presence. Taking on a project such as digging deeper into the mythology of IT however seems like it could very easily destroy the overall idea that King had and possibly calcify the idea so that it can be gawked at and pored over by those that have a limited grasp of what it means to really tap into the creative flow that brings about so many literary wonders. I know, waxing on might have lost a few of you, but until you’ve sat and explored the wonders that sit just beyond the tip of your nose you might not understand it.
IT, Pennywise, the Turtle, everything that makes the book what it is, was an idea concocted by King in a series of moments that even he might not fully understand, and became a story that has fascinated a lot of us for many years now. People have created their own stories based off of it, pop culture has been shaped by it, and our conscious minds have been affected by the story no matter if we realize this or not. Taking IT further than the book would require Stephen King to step in and continue the story as he’s the one that opened the door and laid bare this idea for something so inherently terrifying and grandiose that only he might know the right pathway to take when speaking on it any further. As George Simpson of Express might agree, Andres might be a talented director and have a large hand in making this movie into the great and impressive thing it is, but without the source material he wouldn’t have much to go on. Honestly and truly this seems like a bad idea, but even with the realization that nothing is on the table at the moment, it’s an idea that needs the steady hand of the creator.
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