Synopsis:

It (A Film) is a fanmix/fanfix of It (2017) and It: Chapter Two (2019). Both films have been combined and restructured to follow Stephen King's novel as close as possible. This edit also intends to re-work Chapter Two to address some of the weaker aspects of the sequel and improve the film.

Intentions:

The intention of this fan-edit is to incorporate the films It: Chapter One (2017) and It: Chapter Two (2019) into a single film that faithfully follows the structure of Stephen King’s novel.

Change List:

Part 1: The Shadow Before Chapter 1: After the Flood (1957) The opening scenes between Bill, Georgie, and It after the flood have been reworked to match the flow of the book. The book begins with Georgie playing in the flooded streets, flashes back to his scene with Bill and his visit to the basement, and then continues with his encounter with It. The music has been changed to Für Elise to match what Sharon Denbrough plays on the piano in the book. Audio from the Saturday Night Live sketch “Little Richard Simmons” plays in the background during Bill and Georgie’s second conversation (a nod to the novel where the kids play Little Richard on the radio in contrast to their mother’s piano playing downstairs). Chapter 2: After the Festival (1984) Mike Hanlon’s introduction after the assault on Adrian Mellon has been removed. Chapter 3: Six Phone Calls (1985) The six phone calls Mike makes to the Losers Club have been reordered to match the structure of the book. Transitions between scenes have also been simplified (i.e., the stars above Ben Hanscom’s home don’t suddenly become the puzzle pieces to Stan Uris’ table, etc.). Chapter Two tends to get extravagant with its scene transitions and this edit simplifies many of these throughout. The music during Stanley Uris Takes a Bath is replaced by "Caro Mio Ben" from earlier in the scene. Derry: The First Interlude The montage of Derry with Mike’s opening narration about ‘memories’ from Chapter Two is repurposed as Derry: First Interlude after the six phone calls. The shot of rushing water under the sewer is moved from the ending of Beverly Rogen’s scene with Tom and used here to transition back to 1958. Part 2: June of 1958 Chapter 4: Ben Hanscom Takes a Fall Mike’s introduction and his encounter with It is moved to later. Bill’s ‘experiment’ with his father’s maps and hamster tunnels is removed. Stan’s subplot about disappointing his father and his subsequent encounter with It is removed. This section was difficult, as technically more should be done to match the novel. The book waits to introduce the Losers Club until Ben meets them after being chased by Henry Bowers, and Ben’s encounter with It is done as a flashback after he falls asleep in the barrens—but trying to match the book in this way jumbles the flow of the original film too much. Chapter 6: One of the Missing: A Tale from the Summer of ‘58 The death of Patrick Hockstetter is moved up a scene to coincide with this chapter from the book. Hockstetter’s death in the novel of course is much later, and the chapter in question refers instead to the death of Edward Corcoran, but the available footage makes this section work analogously to what the book achieves. Chapter 7: The Dam in the Barrens The shot of Ben looking back when he hears Hockstetter’s scream is removed (it doesn’t work when Patrick’s scene is moved). Chapter 8: Georgie’s Room and the House on Neibolt Street This chapter begins with a deleted scene from Chapter One in which Bill attempts to discuss vacation plans with his grieving parents (matching a sequence from the book in which Bill notices his parents’ growing emotional distance from each other). Bill’s encounter with It in the basement is moved from later in the film to here. Mike Hanlon’s introduction, and his encounter with It and Henry Bowers at the butcher shop, has been moved to after the basement sequence. This is followed by the kids swimming at the quarry, their discussion about the missing children at Ben’s home, Eddie’s encounter with It at the house on Neibolt street, Beverly Marsh’s encounter with It in her bathroom, and the Losers Club coming to help her clean the blood in Chapter 9: Cleaning Up. Derry: The Second Interlude The death of Victoria Fuller at the baseball game (analogous to Laurie Ann Winterbarger from the book) serves to transition us back to 1985. Part 3: Grownups Chapter 10: The Reunion The brief flashback to Beverly signing Ben’s yearbook is trimmed. During the dinner, the banter between Richie Tozier and Eddie is slightly toned down. The discussion between Bill and Beverly about his ‘bad endings’ is removed (the edit tones down the ‘bad endings’ motif throughout). The scene in which Richie mistakes the young fan for It in disguise is removed. Mike sharing his discovery of the Ritual of Chüd is moved to later in the film. The townhouse sequence is reworked. The brief flashback to Beverly in the deadlights is trimmed, but still verbally referenced. The Ritual of Chüd still isn’t discussed yet. Eddie’s “horribly” comment and the subsequent banter with Richie is removed. The treehouse sequence is reworked. The flashback to the young Losers Club is moved to later. Richie imitating It in the shadows is removed. The discussion about requiring “tokens” that the Losers must search for is removed. Mike refers to “pieces” more metaphorically here, and the eventual items the Losers Club collect during Walking Tours function more to symbolize their collected memories rather than be a scavenger hunt. Chapter 11: Walking Tours The walking tours are reordered to match the book. Ben’s sequence at the school is first. Beverly telling Ben he’s “fat and disgusting” is trimmed (it’s enough that she turns him down and laughs at him before turning into It). Ben talking to himself in the locker is slightly trimmed. Ben calling out the rest of the Losers’ names when It taunts him is trimmed. Eddie’s interaction with Norbert Keene at the pharmacy is removed. He instead approaches the counter, and the voice of young Greta catches his attention, serving to transition to his flashback. The song “Angel of the Morning” during Eddie’s fight with the leper is removed and replaced with part of the main score. Eddie comically attempting to open the door to the outside and his brief interaction with the adult Greta is removed. The flashback of Bill and Beverly before the transition to Mrs. Kersh’s apartment is removed. The flashback Beverly experiences with her father while exploring the apartment is toned down. Alvin Marsh explaining to Beverly she will “never be like [her mother]” and the over-the-top perfume spraying is removed. When Bill visits Second Hand Rose to buy back Silver, the shopkeeper’s opinion on Bill’s “bad endings” is removed. The brief flashback Bill experiences as he rides past his former home is removed. The flashback of young Bill yelling into the empty sewer and being taunted by It is removed. Chapter 12: Three Uninvited Guests Henry Bowers exiting the sewer, returning home and being arrested by police, and the flashforward to his residence at the insane asylum, is moved here. The quick flashback to young Patrick Hockstetter as Henry encounters the ‘undead’ Hockstetter is removed. Bowers’ escape from the mental institution transitions to a deleted scene from Chapter One in which Bowers applies Bactine to wounds from his father’s abuse. Bowers then briefly interacts with his father before joining his friends in targeting Mike Hanlon. Part 4: July of 1958 Chapter 13: The Apocalyptic Rockfight A truncated version of the clubhouse flashback from Chapter Two is moved to after the Losers Club befriend Mike once they have won the rockfight. The second part of the flashback (featuring an uncharacteristically hyperactive Eddie bickering with Richie and an equally uncharacteristic Beverly speaking with Ben) is removed. In the scene where the Losers discuss It in the park, Stan’s reference to the “old woman” he sees is removed to be consistent previous edits. This scene leads to Chapter 14: The Album. Chapter 15: The Smoke-hole Mike and Bill’s interaction after the restaurant is moved here. This is where we are introduced to the Ritual of Chüd. This is another instance in which the scenes do not technically parallel the events of the book (many of the revelations that Bill experiences during his “trip” are done by the young Losers Club in the novel), but still serve to progress the plot in the same way. Bill’s over-the-top “I don’t feel so good!” line has been cut. Chapter 18: The Bullseye After the Losers Club encounter It for the first time at the house on Neibolt St., the montage portraying their “split” has been rescored with Neil Young’s “Hey Hey, My My (Out of the Blue).” The song is referenced several times in King’s book, and this was a good place to incorporate it. The chapter finishes with Eddie at the pharmacy learning about his “gazebos,” followed by Beverly being attacked by her father and kidnapped by It. Part 5: The Ritual of Chüd Chapter 19: In the Watches of the Night Back at the townhouse, Ben and Beverly’s scene is moved to before Beverly and Bill’s scene. The flashback to young Bill and Beverly kissing before they kiss as adults is removed. The skateboard that warns Bill that the kid he met is going to die, and the subsequent scene at the carnival in the house of mirrors is removed. After Henry Bowers attacks Eddie, the brief flashback Ben experiences as he watches Henry escape is removed. Richie’s montage driving by the synagogue as he reconsiders his decision to abandon the rest of the Losers is removed. The sequence itself is a bit corny, and it makes his return to save Mike in the next scene more surprising. After the Losers arrive at the library to save Mike from Bowers, the scene ends after Mike remarks: “Where’s Bill?” and the scene in which Beverly calls Bill at the festival and he states his intentions to fight It alone is removed. The edit transitions back to 1958 to the scene in which Bowers is humiliated by his father in front of his friends, and the following scene in which he receives the switchblade in the mail from Robert Gray. Henry then murders his father. Since Beverly’s kidnapping has been moved to earlier, the film then picks up from Bill’s discovery of Beverly’s disappearance, and his attempts to collect the remaining Losers to come to her aid. The deleted scene featuring Henry waiting for the Losers outside the house on Neibolt St. is reinstated. The chapter finishes after Henry’s attack on the Losers in the basement at Neibolt. Chapter 20: The Circle Closes Back in 1985, the Losers meet Bill at the house on Neibolt St. Bill saying, “Richie said it best,” and the exchange with Richie, is removed. Richie simply proclaims “Let’s kill this fucking clown” after Mike states to Bill they’re going to work together. Some of Richie’s “quips” or side comments are toned down during the fight inside Neibolt. Bill’s over-the-top chastising of Eddie is toned down, and Eddie’s overly on-the-nose call-back “Please, don’t be mad, Bill,” is removed. Chapter 21: Under the City This chapter begins with Beverly’s encounter with It in the cistern after she has been kidnapped. A deleted scene of the Loser’s finding Georgie’s walkie-talkie follows. Back in 1985, the adult Losers make their way to the cistern. Eddie’s cowardice is again edited to be less over-the-top. Some of his monologue to himself while the Loser’s are underwater saving Beverly is trimmed, as well some of his explanation as to why he can’t go on to It’s inner lair is removed. Richie’s explanation to Eddie as to why Eddie is “braver than [he] think[s]…” is trimmed to be—again—less over-the-top. In 1958, Stanley and the Loser’s encounter the old woman in the sewers (analogous to the golem Stanley encounters at this point in the book). This is followed by Bill entering the cistern and the Adult Losers making their way to It’s inner lair. Bill and the young Losers help Beverly down, and Bill’s confrontation with It disguised as Georgie finishes the chapter. Chapter 22: Ritual of Chüd The movie deviates from the book more dramatically in these final chapters. The goal then becomes to accomplish the accelerated cutting between timelines as it occurs in the book and find appropriate “match” edits in order to transition between timelines in a logical and interesting way. As the ritual begins, The Losers’ “tokens” are again referred to more metaphorically, and side comments from Eddie and Richie as to whether certain items will burn is removed. The balloon explosion transitions back to 1958, where Bill watches Georgie’s dead avatar turn into It. The initial fight between Bill and It transitions back to 1985, where the Losers are confronted by It and become separated. Back in 1958, It gets a hold of Bill and offers the rest of the Losers his “deal” to take only Bill. Bill’s scene watching himself and Georgie in the basement is removed. The scene’s inclusion subverts the emotional resolution established when young Bill shoots Georgie’s avatar moments before. The sequence in which Eddie and Richie revisit the “doors” set piece from the first confrontation at Neibolt is removed. The humor distracts from the confrontation, and the call back is unnecessary. The quick flashback showing the entrance to the cavern when Beverly refers to making It small is removed. After the adult Losers are cornered by It at the entrance to the cavern, the edit transitions back to 1958 for the final confrontation sequence. The final fight in both timelines is intercut through four main sections 1) The Losers stand up to It with their newfound collective belief and trust in each other, 2) The fight turns the tables to put It into a state of fear, 3) The Losers finish It, 4) The Losers embrace in the catharsis of their victory. After the fight, the adult Losers escape the sewers. Chapter 23: Out The final chapter begins with the promise scene between the young Losers, followed by the quarry scene with the adult Losers. After the adult Losers see their younger selves in the shop window, the remaining scenes are replaced by a final montage set to Neil Young’s “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black).”

Additional Notes:

In preparation for this edit, I sat down to read Stephen King’s It, taking notes so I could edit both films to match the book as closely as possible. The goal was to either match the structure exactly, or (at the very least) find the analogous scene/components from the films to serve the same purpose. Part and chapter titles are included. This edit is not only a fan-mix of both films, but also a fan-fix of Chapter Two. I don’t feel the sequel deserves quite the level of animosity it receives, but it’s fair to acknowledge it has weaknesses. At times, Chapter Two features humor that is either illy timed, or just simply falls flat; its adaptation of the Ritual of Chüd as a bizarre scavenger hunt for the adult Losers Club is silly; and the film’s attempts at call-backs to Chapter One can be superfluous or ham-handed. I attempt to address these issues in the edit.

Other Sources:

Benjamin Wallfisch - IT (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Benjamin Wallfisch - IT Chapter Two (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Rust Never Sleeps Cecilia Bartoli - Cecilia Bartoli: A Portrait.

Special Thanks: