'It: Chapter Two' begins production — here's everything we know about horror sequel

It, Andy Muschietti’s 2017 adaptation of Stephen King’s classic 1986 novel, was an enormous hit with moviegoers and critics, earning $327 million in the United States — a figure that makes it the highest-grossing R-rated horror film in movie history. Thus, expectations are sky-high for It: Chapter Two. Its all-star cast having been assembled, production has finally commenced on the eagerly anticipated sequel. And to mark that occasion, the film has released a first look at its headliners.

The above photo is a snapshot from a table read-through of the script by Gary Dauberman. Along with the photo of the adult version of the cast — including James McAvoy (Bill Denbrough), Jessica Chastain (Beverly Marsh), Jay Ryan (Ben Hanscom), Bill Hader (Richie Tozier), Isaiah Mustafa (Mike Hanlon), James Ransone (Eddie Kaspbrak), and Andy Bean (Stanley Uris) — Warner Bros. announced Monday that the horror follow-up is now officially underway.

The official news arrives only a few days after the below Instagram post from McAvoy, which presented a series of behind-the-scenes Polaroids of the actor with his cast mates. Those pictures featured some of the kids who starred in the original 1988-set film, which confirmed what Muschietti told Yahoo Entertainment last fall — that Jaeden Lieberher, Wyatt Oleff, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Chosen Jacobs, and Jack Dylan Grazer would all be making appearances in the sequel.

Chastain followed that up with her own Instagram post, which saw her face merged with that of her character’s younger self, played by Sophia Lillis:

It: Chapter Two will pick up 27 years after its predecessor, tracking the now-grown characters as they return to their hometown of Derry, Maine, to confront the malevolent Pennywise the Dancing Clown (Bill Skarsg?rd). While more specifics about the adaptation (which is shooting in Toronto) are unknown, director Muschietti did tell us late last year that it would focus more on the “transdimensional” elements of King’s source material:

“Getting into that other dimension — the other side — was something that we could introduce in the second part. In the book, the perspective of the writing … is always with the Losers, so everything they know about Pennywise is very speculative and shrouded in absurdity, so I wanted to respect that mystery feeling of not knowing what’s on the other side. … There’s another movie to expand into that.”

It: Chapter Two arrives in theaters on Sept. 6, 2019.

Watch: Andy Muschietti reveals how he engineered Pennywise for maximum scares:

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

• The best movies of 2018… so far

• 2018’s biggest box-office winners and losers so far

• ‘It’ filmmakers drop big hints about return of Pennywise, kid stars for ‘Chapter Two’