More than two years after its official announcement, Max’s IT prequel series Welcome to Derry is finally moving forward, with a familiar face.
The HBO streaming service first announced Welcome to Derry in March 2022, set in the sleepy town of Derry, Maine, in the 1960s, before the events of the IT films.
While none of the kids from the original 2017 IT movie were expected to return, Bill Skarsgard, who played Pennywise the Clown, will reprise his role, via Deadline.
He will reunite with Andy Muschietti, of 2017’s IT and 2019’s IT Chapter Two, who will direct four of the series’ nine episodes.
In November, HBO’s Casey Bloys stated that Welcome to Derry will be released sometime in 2025, although it’s unclear when production begins.
More than two years after its official announcement, Max’s IT prequel series Welcome to Derry is finally moving forward, with a familiar face.
While none of the kids from the original 2017 IT movie were expected to return, Bill Skarsgard, who played Pennywise the Clown, will reprise his role, via Deadline.
The series will come from Muschietti, his sister and producing partner Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fucks, who serve as executive producers.
They all crafted the story together, with Fuchs (Wonder Woman, Argylle) writing the pilot script and Andy directing the pilot episode.
The return of Skarsgard, 33, isn’t too surprising, given that early reports indicated the series will explore the origins of Pennywise the Clown.
The original films split Stephen King’s massive 1,138-page novel, first published in 1986, in half.
The first film, set in 1988, followed the young people who make up “The Losers Club” and their first encounters with Pennywise.
The film starred Finn Wolfhard (Richie Tozier), Jaeden Martell (Bill Denbrough), Sophia Lillis (Beverly Marsh), Jeremy Ray Taylor (Ben Hanscom), Chosen Jacobs (Mike Hanlon), Jack Dylan Glazer (Eddie Kaspbrak) and Wyatt Oleff (Stanley Uris).
The first TI was a huge success, debuting with $117.2 million on its way to $328.8 million domestically and $704.2 million worldwide on a budget of just $40 million.
The second film returns to Derry, Maine in 2016, where we meet the members of the Losers Club as adults.
The first film, set in 1988, followed the young people who make up “The Losers Club” and their first encounters with Pennywise.
The return of Skarsgard, 33, isn’t too surprising, given that early reports indicated the series will explore the origins of Pennywise the Clown.
The second film returns to Derry, Maine in 2016, where we meet the members of the Losers Club as adults.
The film starred James McAvoy (Bill Denbrough), Bill Hader (Richie Tozier), Jessica Chastain (Beverly Marsh), Isaiah Mustafa (Mike Hanlon), Jay Ryan (Ben Hanscom), James Ransone (Eddie Kaspbrak) and Andy Bean ( Stanley Uris). ).
The sequel didn’t do as well at the box office, but it still performed pretty well given that the budget is much smaller than most big-budget films.
It Chapter Two earned $211.6 million domestically and $473.1 million worldwide, on a budget of $79 million.
Skarsgard will next be seen bringing another franchise to life, starring in the reboot of The Crow, which hits theaters on August 23.
