You know the drill: a successful franchise with intellectual property value cannot stay idle. So, after the success of “IT” and “IT Chapter Two,” filmmakers Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti, who directed and produced the first two films, are returning with the spin-off prequel series, “IT: Welcome To Derry.” The series comes from Warner Bros. Television and was developed for television by the Muschiettis and Jason Fuchs (“IT Chapter Two,” “Wonder Woman,” “Argylle”), “IT: Welcome To Derry” will debut in 2025 on HBO and will be available to stream on Max. Andy Muschietti will direct four episodes of the nine-episode series.
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Set in the world of Stephen King’s “IT” universe, “IT: Welcome To Derry” is based on King’s “IT” novel and expands the vision established by filmmaker Muschietti in films “IT” and “IT Chapter Two.” The series stars Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, James Remar, Stephen Rider, Madeleine Stowe, Rudy Mancuso, and Bill Skarsgård.
“This is a book we love a lot, and we felt that there was still a lot of story to be covered,” Andy and Barbara told EW this week. “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.”
Fuchs, who wrote the teleplay for the first episode, and Kane serve as co-showrunners on the project.
The filmmakers explain that ‘Welcome To Derry’ takes place 27 years before the events of the first “IT” movie.
“Twenty-seven years is the dormant period of Pennywise,” the Muschiettis explained. “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. Our baseline is 1962, but we do a few jumps to the past…. Every 27 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.”
No firm release date for the series has been released, but HBO and MAX have included footage teases in their 2025 sizzle reel videos, and the series is expected to be ready sometime in the first half of next year. Check out the first look images IT: Welcome To Derry” pictures below.
