‘Welcome to Derry’: Everything We Know About the ‘IT’ Prequel Series
Time to float!
Hop on your bike because we’re headed back to Derry, and this time it’s not to hang out with the Losers Club. This time we’re getting an IT prequel, baby! If you’ve watched IT: Chapter One (2017) and IT: Chapter Two (2019), then you know how great both films are and you’ll understand why we’re so excited to see more of this story come to life in HBO’s Welcome to Derry.
The exciting part of this series is that Bill Skarsgård is set to return as Pennywise the Clown! His terrifying portrayal in both It: Chapter One and It: Chapter Two still haunts audiences to this day and it was announced via Deadline that Skarsgård is set to return. This is also the second time that Skarsgård has been in a show set in the world of Stephen King after having starred in the show Castle Rock.
While details are about as plentiful as crumbs at the bottom of a chip bag, it’s still fun to speculate about what’s coming. So let’s dig into a few things we can expect from the horrifying history of Derry.
Welcome to Derry release window and plot
HBO has officially given a series order to Welcome to Derry and the release window is 2024! But fear not (or do fear because Pennywise will love that), it shouldn’t be too long before we get more details. Just as there’s no specific release date, we also don’t have a plot, but we do know the prequel series will focus heavily on Pennywise (hopefully Bill Skarsgård is coming back), the history of Derry, and the horrific events that Pennywise created. This series will be part of the canon established in IT: Chapter One and IT: Chapter Two, based on Stephen King’s epic horror novel.
Welcome to Derry cast
Outside of Skarsgård, there are some other cast we know is joining the series. We’re bound to hear more about the rest of the cast soon, but so far we have five folks who have officially signed up to star in Welcome to Derry, per The Hollywood Reporter:
- Taylour Paige (Zola)
- Jovan Adepo (Watchmen, Babylon)
- Chris Chalk (Perry Mason)
- James Remar (Dexter)
- Bill Skarsgård
The cast is certainly more diverse than either IT remake and that’s a nice surprise! Given that the series is a prequel, and based on this casting news, it seems possible that Welcome to Derry could be gearing up to explore the racist history of the town featured in Stephen King’s novel and only briefly touched on in the films.
Behind the scenes
Jason Fuchs (co-producer of IT: Chapter Two) and Brad Caleb Kane (Fringe, Black Sails) are the showrunners on Welcome to Derry, with Fuchs set to write the first episode. Siblings Andy and Barbara Muschietti, the creative forces behind IT: Chapter One and Chapter Two, are also on board as executive producers, with Andy Muschietti directing multiple episodes.
Given the success of both films, there’s no telling how much money will be put into this project. And we’re likely looking at another heavy-hitter horror series. Let’s cross our fingers that we’ll see some familiar faces.
(featured image: Warner Bros.)
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