It Book vs Movie: How the IT Films Tell Stephen King's Story

In the films, Pennywise is only driven off in It (2017), and it is destroyed in It Chapter Two when the Losers mock it until it shrinks and then crush its heart, so that the cavern collapses. The first film ends on a partial victory, and the second finishes the job.

In It (2017) Beverly drives a spike into the creature's head during the Neibolt Street encounter, and later in the sewers she stabs It in the face, which sends the creature away weakened. The children then swear a blood oath to return if It ever comes back.

In It Chapter Two the adults recover their lost memories, head into the sewers and perform a ritual Mike has found. Pennywise takes a huge spider like form and tries to break them with their worst fears, but the Losers mock it until it shrinks. It could be argued that this is the saga's central idea: the clown feeds on fear, so ridicule is the one weapon that works. For a creature design fan, that rule is what makes the final fight read clearly.

Not every member of the Losers Club survives the story, and the sequel is where the deaths happen. In It Chapter Two, Stanley Uris has died by suicide before the group reunites, Mike is fatally wounded in a fight at the library, and Eddie Kaspbrak is fatally impaled while saving Richie Tozier.

These are heavy losses, and Stanley stays part of the ending through a letter he left for his friends. Bill reads it after the others have gone their separate ways, and it ends by saying they are Losers and always will be. Afterward the scars on their hands fade, which shows the curse is broken, and Ben and Beverly end up together.

The film also gives the survivors a short coda: Mike leaves Derry and Bill starts writing again. The story closes with no sequel set up, a clear contrast with the first film, whose title card marks it as Chapter One.

Henry Bowers is the human threat in both films, and each uses him as a second front against the Losers. In It (2017) he leads the gang that bullies Ben, Beverly and Mike, attacks the boys on their way to rescue Beverly, and is pushed down a well by Mike.

In It Chapter Two, Henry escapes from an asylum and goes after the adult group. His attack ends in a fight at the library, where Richie kills Henry and Mike is fatally wounded. He keeps pressure on the adults while they search for their personal objects, so the plot never stops moving between scares.

In my opinion, It (2017) is the stronger of the two films, and It Chapter Two is the one that wanders more. It could be argued that the first film has the cleaner idea: seven kids, one summer and a creature that turns each child's private fear into a set piece.

The first film also keeps its focus. Georgie's death, the Neibolt Street house, the blood oath and the final fight land in a clear order. It (2017) earned more than $719 million worldwide on a $35 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo, which suggests the streamlined version worked. The it box office page sets that against the sequel.

It Chapter Two takes bigger swings. Its 169 minutes give it room, but the adult storyline leans on new set pieces and a different balance of jokes and grief, and it earned about $473 million worldwide on a $79 million budget. That being said, its best idea, the Losers laughing the clown down to size, is a clean piece of film logic.

So, which should you pick? If you want the tightest horror, start with It (2017). If you want to see how the story pays off, watch It Chapter Two next, and follow the it movies in order list for the full sequence.