It Chapter Two Features Scene Inspired By Real-Life Homophobic Attack

Next monthIt Chapter Two will arrive in theaters, fully prepared to make most of us piss our pants in abject terror -- clowns are scary, ok! (Although according to Out senior editor Mikelle Street, "I deal with clowns all day on Twitter.") The second big-screen adaptation of Stephen King's terrifying masterpiece will follow the grown-up Losers Club as they return to Derry, Maine and once again confront the evil Pennywise.

The new film will also revisit a scene from King's original novel that was left out of the 1990 miniseries. In the scene, a young gay man named Adrian is the victim of a hate crime as his boyfriend watches, powerless to stop a group of angry homophobes who push him over a bridge. He survives the fall only to be devoured by Pennywise as his distraught boyfriend watches.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, director Andy Muschietti explained that this scene was inspired by the real life murder of Charlie Howard. "It's one of the things that really caused a deep impact on Stephen King when he was writing It," said Muschietti. "So, he decided to include it. Of course, the names are changed, but the beating happened almost exactly like it's described in the book, and Charlie died in three feet of water in the canal." Howard is thought to have suffered an asthma attack after his fall, leading him to drown in the shallow water. In It Chapter Two, Xavier Dolan will portray an asthmatic Adrian, inspired by Howard.

It Chapter Two is in theaters September 6.

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