James McAvoy Tells Us The Character From Stephen King's IT That He Kept Trying To Include In The Movie, But The Director Kept Cutting It Out

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.

There’s a long history of filmmakers adapting the works of Stephen King, but doing so is far from what any of them would call an easy task. The author’s famed verbosity often clashes with feature runtimes, requiring screenwriters to trim and cut sequences and storylines, but there are also some wild ideas that prove too complicated to bring to the big screen. This week’s main story in The King Beat concerns the latter – specifically the challenge of bringing the great turtle Maturin to life in the 2019 movie IT: Chapter Two.

But that’s not all, as this week has also provided an exciting Stephen King-related development for awards season, and the author has offered his fans a brand new streaming recommendation (hopefully your Netflix subscription is presently active). There’s a lot to discuss, so let’s dig in!

James McAvoy Made Overt Efforts To Include References To Maturin The Turtle In IT: Chapter Two

“See the TURTLE of enormous girth! On his shell he holds the earth.” That’s a line with which any Dark Tower readers will be familiar, and it speaks directly to the significance of Maturin, one of the great forces of good in the Stephen King universe. In addition to having an important place in King’s Mid-World epic, the character is probably best known for his part in IT… though you might not know that if you’ve only ever seen the adaptations of the novel.

Between the 1990 miniseries and director Andy Muschietti’s two-part blockbusters, references to Maturin are limited to simple Easter eggs – but apparently this isn’t for a lack of trying. According to IT: Chapter Two star James McAvoy, he tried to include more references to the great turtle in the film, but none of them made it out of the editing suite.

McAvoy is currently earning acclaim for his role in the new horror movie Speak No Evil, and he spoke about some of his history in the genre during an interview in the most recent episode of ReelBlend. The actor plays Losers Club leader William "Bill" Denbrough as an adult in IT: Chapter Two, and while he is proud of how the movie represents its source material on the big screen, he also noted his efforts to include more references to Maturin during production. Said McAvoy,

I feel like IT was actually pretty faithful to the book. Andy was really lovingly (adapting) the book, I think, at most points. I remember The Turtle. Do you know the book well? I love the book! It's one of my favorites. And The Turtle is a thing that keeps coming to (the kids). And they keep talking about The Turtle, and like, ‘The Turtle can't save us…’ and all that. I kept trying to put The Turtle into the movie at every opportunity.

Unfortunately, these efforts were for naught. Andy Muschietti evidently tolerated James McAvoy performing takes with references to Maturin, but none of it made it into the finished cut of the film. The actor continued,

And Andy was so kind, and so nice. He never shot me down. But whenever I put The Turtle in, I think he was just thinking, ‘I'm going to be cutting that outta the movie!’

To the credit of Andy Muschietti and screenwriter Gary Dauberman, IT: Chapter Two is a more faithful adaptation of the “adult” side of the book compared to the aforementioned 1990 miniseries. For example, it includes a version of The Ritual Of Chüd that is used to defeat Pennywise (albeit it is not exactly the same as what’s in the novel). Maturin, the great cosmic enemy of the Deadlights whom Bill connects with while seeking an answer to save the town of Derry, Maine, however, is not a character who ends up having a role.

The good news is that the door is still open for Maturin to have a part to play in the canon. While 2017’s IT and its 2019 sequel pretty thoroughly cover the story of the Losers Club, audiences will soon get the chance to revisit the world via the upcoming HBO prequel series Welcome To Derry, which is on track for an unspecified 2025 release date. It has been confirmed that Bill Skarsg?rd is reprising his role as Pennywise on the show, so it’s not outside the realm of possibility that we might finally see Maturin become involved.

Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for all of the latest updates about Welcome To Derry, and if you’re now in the mood to watch IT and IT: Chapter Two, neither movie is presently available to watch on any subscription streaming service, but you can rent or purchase the films digitally or buy them on 4K UHD.

The Life Of Chuck Won An Exciting Prize Following Its Premiere At The Toronto International Film Festival

As I noted in my Toronto International Film Festival reaction earlier this month, writer/director Mike Flanagan’s The Life Of Chuck will be remembered as one of the great Stephen King movies. It’s a beautiful and emotional film that plays as a wonderful crowd pleaser – and you don’t just have to take my word for it. That fact can already be proven via hardware, as it was announced this week that the new King adaptation won the vote for the Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award.

The lineup at TIFF this year was impressive, with other excellent titles including Edward Berger’s delicious drama Conclave and DreamWorks Animation’s hilarious and gorgeous The Wild Robot, but it was The Life Of Chuck that earned the most love from TIFF attendees. Following the announcement, an emotional Mike Flanagan recorded a video response, which you can watch below:

Stephen King was in attendance at the world premiere of The Life Of Chuck, which is based on the novella of the same name from King’s 2020 collection If It Bleeds, and he too was elated to hear the news about the People’s Choice Award. He wrote on Twitter,

Of note in this conversation is where this leaves The Life Of Chuck in the 2024 awards season, as there is an interesting history of People's Choice Award recipients going on to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. There isn’t a direct correlation, but the list of titles that have won both prizes in the last 14 years includes Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland, Peter Farrelly’s Green Book, Damien Chazelle’s La La Land, Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave and Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech.

One notable thing that is holding The Life Of Chuck back presently, however, is the fact that a distributor has not yet been announced, and it will need to get some kind of theatrical release between now and the end of the year if it wants to qualify for consideration by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. That being said, it feels safe to assume that the indie film has a number of suitors lined up vying for a deal following its big win at TIFF, so it probably won’t be too long until we get some exciting news.

Stephen King Is Also Part Of The Rebel Ridge Fan Club

Looking for a new movie to stream this weekend? If you haven’t already checked out writer/director Jeremy Saulnier’s new film Rebel Ridge, it’s a title that you should put on your watch list right now. The Netflix title has been earning widespread critical acclaim, with the performance from up-and-coming star Aaron Pierre getting a lot of love, and Stephen King has now joined the chorus as well.

Posting to his personal Twitter account, the author acknowledged that he is unaware whether or not Rebel Ridge is a Netflix original film (it is), but he is a huge fan and directly compared it to an action classic:

When a filmmaker’s work gets praise from Stephen King, it’s common for them to be bowled over by the reaction, and Jeremy Saulnier is no exception. The writer/director wrote his own reaction to King’s reaction a day after King’s post went live, and he explained that there was actually a pre-existing connection between King and Rebel Ridge in the form of a present he purchased for himself following the completion of his latest movie:

Cycle Of The Werewolf was previously adapted as the 1985 film Silver Bullet (based on a screenplay that Stephen King wrote himself), but if Jeremy Saulnier is in any way suggesting interest in developing a remake here, I would totally be on board with that idea.

Co-starring Don Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, David Denman, Emory Cohen, and Zsané Jhé, Rebel Ridge is now streaming on Netflix.

That brings this edition of The King Beat to an end, but be sure to head back here next Thursday for my latest roundup of all the biggest news out of the world of Stephen King. In the meantime, you can discover all of the King-related projects in the works with our Upcoming Stephen King Movies and TV guide, and learn about the full history of King on screen with my Adapting Stephen King column.