Many movies in recent years have used digital de-aging technology to wind back the clock for stars like Kurt Russell, Robert Downey Jr., Michael Douglas and Robert De Niro, but to date, the technology hasn’t yet been utilized in the horror genre. But that all changes with Andy Muschietti’s IT: Chapter Two, one of the rare big-budget epics for the horror world.

In the latest issue of Total Film – thanks to Syfy.com and writer Jacob Oller for the heads up – Muschietti reveals that the young stars of IT were de-aged for the brand new flashback sequences to the 1980s that’ll appear throughout IT: Chapter Two. After all, the young actors have each done some growing up and changing since the 2017 film was shot.

“Well, it’s better to shoot it two years later than five years later. But in those two years, they grew up quite a bit,” Muschietti explained. “Not all of them. Sophia looks exactly the same. Jaeden looks pretty much the same. Finn grew up quite a bit, and he’s a tall guy. But from the beginning, we knew that that would be part of the budget, the visual effects to address that.”

“So we’re going to de-age the kids,” Muschietti told Total Film on the set of Chapter Two.

Reprising their roles as the original members of the Losers Club are Jaeden Martell as Bill, Wyatt Oleff as Stanley, Jack Dylan Grazer as Eddie, Finn Wolfhard as Richie, Sophia Lillis as Beverly, Chosen Jacobs as Mike, and Jeremy Ray Taylor as Ben.

Thanks to Matty Budrewicz for helping out with this article.