How Does 'It' Book End? Original Ending Revisited Before 'Chapter Two' Movie Release

With "IT Chapter Two" set to open Friday, Sept. 6, fans of Stephen King's work certainly have something to look forward to. Building off of the 1986 horror novel "It," the new movie will follow the evil clown Pennywise as he returns to Derry, Maine, 27 years later to continue tormenting the members of the Losers' Club, who are now adults. To understand where the story is going in the new film, it's important to know the ending of King's original work.

[Warning: This article contains book spoilers.]

The book begins in the summer of 1958 as the small town of Derry finds itself being terrorized by a shape-shifting, child-killing creature. Seven children encounter the mysterious figure and decided to unite as the "Losers' Club" in order to bring an end to the creature that they called "It" once and for all. While It does not die, it is eventually forced out from the town and into a type of hibernation.

Twenty-seven years later, in the summer of 1985, murders of a similar nature begin occurring. This, in turn, makes the only remaining member of the Losers' Club still in the area aware that It has returned. Upon reminding the other former members of the Losers' Club about the oath they made as children, they reunite in order to face It once again. However, when one of the original members, Stan Uris, dies by suicide, it leaves the friends with dwindling numbers as they begin to think about facing the monster yet again.

Eventually, in the midst of the worst flood that has been seen in Derry in its history, the Club manages to defeat It. The success comes at a price, though, as Eddie Kaspbrak, another person in the group who was tasked with defeating It, loses his life in the process. In the end, the members of the Losers' Club leave the town yet again and return to their normal lives once more.

In the novel, the time jump is written in such a way that King almost merges 1958 with 1985 as he cuts "more rapidly between the two until they seem to almost merge together," states Den of Geek. However, when it comes to the movies, the timeframes are separated as "It" only focuses on the group as children and "IT Chapter Two" will return to the story in the second time period when they are adults.

"IT Chapter Two" opens in theaters on Friday.