Nearly every week, it feels like a new Stephen King adaptation is announced with more on the far horizon. Yet on a more timely note, HBO has been plotting to scare the bejesus out of us with a prequel series to the It movies that launched in 2017 and continued with 2019’s It Chapter Two. Those films, directed by Andy Muschietti, reintroduced the Losers Club (after the miniseries starring Tim Curry) with Bill Skarsgård (whose Nosferatu voice is currently dominating headlines) as the demonic Pennywise the Clown. Now, Alex’s frequently unsettling younger brother will again be lurking in gutters and unleashing that laugh and smile that he has also unloaded on Conan.
Previously known only as Welcome To Derry, “It” has now been affixed to the title that will visit the earlier days of King’s fictional Derry, Maine. Let’s get down to spooky business on what to expect from this series (from Andy and Barbara Muschietti) that will fill in the blanks for King’s Constant Readers.
Is There A Welcome To Derry Trailer Yet?
Plenty of photos and plot details can be found below, but HBO is still in the “teasing” phase on footage. That includes this intro clip about Derry (“this ain’t America, this is Derry”) spliced with footage showing the reflection of a telltale red balloon amid the echo of Pennywise’s laughter. A sinister grin and screams add to the atmosphere:
Plot
Previously, the Muschetti siblings remained fairly coy, only adding that plenty of story remained to be told from the massive It tome and that this series will move “far beyond what we could explore in our It movies.” They further promised “heart, humor, humanity, and horror” as Pennywise begins his first onscreen claiming of victims in the 1960s.
The Muschettis have now opened up to Entertainment Weekly and clarified that this story mostly occurs in 1962 (while observing Pennywise’s 27-year dormancy period). Expect some jumping back to events of the 1930s, too, which is when the Black Spot nightclub burns down in the book, to explore the demonic being’s earliest Derry visits (which are chronicled by the Mike Hanlon-focused interludes within the It novel), and the demon could take other forms although it most commonly disguises himself as Pennywise. Several other interludes will tell stories about the demon’s lore, as as the Muschettis informed EW:
“This is a book we love a lot, and we felt that there was still a lot of story to be covered. “It’s so rich with characters and events, we thought we would do justice to the book and the fans by going back into this world. Specifically, we are telling the stories of the interludes, writings by Mike Hanlon based on his investigation that includes interviews he conducts with the older people in the town. In Welcome to Derry, we touch on the usual themes that were talked about in the movie — friendship, loss, the power of unified belief — but this story focuses also on the use of fear as a weapon, which is one of the things that is also relevant to our times.”
As you can see above and below, HBO released several images of characters who are trying to figure out what the hell has taken root in their town.
Cast
Bill Skarsgård will definitely be on hand as the Pennywise of multiple generations, and the It: Welcome To Derry cast includes Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, Madeleine Stowe, Stephen Rider, James Remar, Alixandra Fuchs, and BJ Harrison.
Release Date
This show has seemingly been in the works forever, although to be fair, it’s only been a few years. Originally, the prequel series was planned for Halloween 2024, but due to two Hollywood strikes, 2025 turned into the release window to watch. At least we know that nine hour-long episodes will do the spooky deed when the time is right.
