<em>It: Welcome to Derry</em> aims to expand the iconic horror franchise by taking viewers back to a time before the Losers Club confronted Pennywise. Following the tremendous success of the It films, Warner Bros. is now bringing the horror franchise, based on Stephen King’s celebrated novels, to HBO.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the Muschetti siblings, Andy and Barbara, elaborated on how they are expanding the world of It through the small screen with Welcome to Derry. When asked if Stephen King provided any notes on specific changes he desired for the series after reviewing the scripts, Andy Muschietti emphasized that “Stephen didn’t approach the show like that.”
The director of the It duology remarked that King “wasn’t imposing any kind of guidelines on us. I think his desire was to let us play with his toys because from the beginning, we were clear to him.” They conveyed to the author, “Your book is a mystery. It’s a puzzle and left unsolved intentionally. And we’re going to create a lot of stuff to bring those enigmas, and also to fill in the gaps in the puzzle. Eventually, this creates a story that’s not in the book. It’s a hidden story.”
His sister and fellow executive producer added that “We wanted to do a show that basically went backwards, where each season was a cycle of Pennywise and he loved that concept and gave us all the rope we needed.” The series is set in 1962, occurring more than 20 years before the events of the original film from 2017.
King has expressed his enthusiasm for the HBO horror drama, sharing a positive review for It: Welcome to Derry on social media. When discussing his reaction with ScreenRant, series writer Jason Fuchs was thrilled about the favorable response.
In ScreenRant’s review of It: Welcome to Derry, Zach Moser described how the prequel offers “an unrelenting amount of horror and carnage.” The first season will consist of eight episodes, with Muschietti directing the pilot as one of his contributions.
At the time of this story’s publication, a season 2 renewal has yet to be confirmed for the prequel series. The first season of It: Welcome to Derry premieres on Sunday, October 26, at 9 PM on HBO, with subsequent episodes released weekly on HBO Max.
