We finally have our first look at the upcoming limited series IT: Welcome to Derry. The show takes place in Stephen King’s IT universe, is based on King’s IT novel and, according to the logline, “expands the vision established by filmmaker Andy Muschietti in the feature films IT and IT Chapter Two.”
I haven’t been exactly sure what that meant—would the show go into the interludes we get in King’s novel, about other Pennywise sightings in Derry every twenty-seven years? HBO described it as a prequel to the films that explores the origins of Pennywise, after all, and now the first-look images suggest that at least some of those interludes are featured in the series. Andy Muschietti, who developed Welcome to Derry along with his sister Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs, confirmed that assumption to Entertainment Weekly today.
“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,” he said. “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.”
The first-look images suggest the bulk of the show takes place in 1962 and centers on the story Mike’s father told him about an attack on the Black Spot, a nightclub near the army based his father worked out that served Black patrons.
“It’s a different part of American history with a new set of fears for children, as well as adults having in mind the cost of the Cold War,” said Muschietti. “Our baseline is 1962, but we do a few jumps to the past… Every twenty-seven years when IT appears, IT’s cycle is marked by two catastrophic events, one at the beginning and one in the end. We are using the Black Spot as an event in which many stories are built around.”
IT: Welcome to Derry stars Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, James Remar, Stephen Rider, Madeleine Stowe, Rudy Mancuso. Bill Skarsgård is also in the show, presumably reprising his role as Pennywise. [ed note: it would be hilarious if he’s just some random guy, though.]
The limited series is scheduled to premiere on HBO sometime in 2025.
Check out the remaining first-look images below.
