The verdict is in for IT Chapter Two as the movie's Rotten Tomatoes score has been revealed. This is one of the most highly-anticipated releases of the fall season, if not the entire year. While many moviegoers are surely already dead set on seeing the conclusion to this adaptation of Stephen King's beloved novel, it's still good to know what the general consensus is heading into opening weekend. So far, so good, but maybe not quite as good as its predecessor.

As of this writing, with a total of 64 reviews counted, IT Chapter Two holds a solid 81 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. For the sake of comparison, 2017's IT boasts an 86 percent rating. So where is the sequel losing out when it comes to that five percent gap? Much has been made of the follow-up's lengthy runtime, which clocks in just shy of three hours. Many critics who have weighed in thus far seem to feel the movie doesn't quite justify the running time in the way that Avengers: Endgame was able to earlier this year.

In any event, the cast has earned a great deal of praise and the movie has generally been declared to be very scary. This time around, an impressive ensemble of new stars will portray adult versions of The Losers Club. The cast includes James McAvoy as Bill Denbrough, Jessica Chastain as Beverly Marsh, Bill Hader as Richie Tozier, Isaiah Mustafa as Mike Hanlon, Jay Ryan as Ben Hanscom, James Ransone as Eddie Kaspbrak and Andy Bean as Stanley Uris. Hader, specifically, has been singled out quite a bit for his portrayal of Richie. The young cast members from the first movie are also returning.

Perhaps most importantly, Bill Skarsgard is back as Pennywise. Again, Skarsgard has earned seemingly nothing but positive remarks from critics that have weighed in. Whatever perceived shortcomings the sequel may have when compared to its beloved predecessor, Skarsgard isn't one of them. Andy Muschietti also returns to the director's chair this time around and, given the runtime, the filmmaker had major ambitions this time around. Whether or not everyone agrees, it's possible certain critics would have responded better had he and writer Gary Dauberman trimmed things down a bit.

For what it's worth, at this point, the movie is already the top horror movie, in terms of pre-sales, on Fandango heading into opening weekend. It's expected the sequel will bring in around $100 million at the box office in its debut, which will likely fall short of the first IT, which set a record with $123 million two years ago. Still, that massive figure will give the box office a much-needed shot in the arm after a slow conclusion to the summer movie season. IT Chapter Two is set to hit theaters on September 6. To dive deeper on what critics are saying, head on over to Rotten Tomatoes.