Gary Dauberman talks It: Chapter 2 Gore and Salem's Lot

Screenwriter Gary Dauberman, whose directorial debut Annabelle Comes Home is opening in theaters this weekend, has a lot of horror projects on his plate. First there’s IT: Chapter Two, the follow-up to 2017’s IT, both of which are based on Stephen King’s novel.

To amp things up for the sequel, a certain scene was filmed that star Jessica Chastain claimed was a record-setting amount of fake blood, which he told The Hollywood Reporter that he credits to director Andy Muschietti.

“I think that’s Andy pushing it to the brink; he has a great relationship with Chastain,” Dauberman explained. “But, yeah, that’s definitely Andy. I know the particular scene you’re talking about, and there’s no way to do it without a ton of blood. Knowing Andy, he always takes things and multiplies them, which is what you want out of your director. It’s pretty incredible.“

Unlike a lot of adaptations of King’s work, the author has given his approval to both IT and its upcoming follow-up.

“I can’t explain to you the relief I feel when he signs off on something or likes the work you’ve done. That’s the first person I’m trying to please when I’m adapting these things. It is an enormous amount of relief. I know I’m never going to be able to please everybody, so I just hope that he’s pleased. It really is a huge relief, and everything else for me is a bonus.”

Once Pennywise and company conclude their big-screen odyssey, Dauberman is turning to another one of King’s classic works: Salem’s Lot.

“I like to be as true to the story as I possibly can until it gets a little too unwieldy for a movie,” said Dauberman of Salem’s Lot. “I’m very, very excited to be a part of that and tackle it. It hasn’t had the big screen treatment yet, which is how I felt about It. It’s so fun to play around with vampires and make something truly scary with vampires. I haven’t seen that in a long, long time, and I’m excited for people to see it.“

IT debuted in September of last year to the tune of $123.1 million on opening weekend, the highest opening weekend ever for a September release, for a fall release, and for a horror movie. It clocked in just $9 million behind Deadpool for the second-highest opening for an R-rated movie. The film earned over $700 million at the worldwide box office, making it the highest-grossing horror movie of all time.

IT: Chapter Two creeps into theaters September 6.