Stephen King’s fictional Derry, Maine, has been the location for several novels, and it shall soon be ground central for a prequel series leading into 2017’s It and 2019’s It Chapter Two, which starred Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise the Clown, terrorizer of Derry’s children. Those films were scripted by Gary Dauberman, Chase Palmer, and Cary Fukunaga and directed by Andy Muschietti, who co-developed the Welcome To Derry series (along with sister Barbara, who produced the films) that will stream on Max.
Andy will also be in the directors seat for a few episodes, and the series will move off-book, so plot clues will not necessarily be found within the It novel. And that’s alright because King is already busy as heck, having written over 75 books and hundreds of short stories in his time, and this series has been able to maintain relative secrecy during production without a book suggesting every single move. However, updates are filling in some blanks, so let’s talk about what King’s Constant Readers (and Constant Viewers) can expect.
Plot
Some visuals will probably be appreciated first. This new teaser clip — with a “this ain’t America, this is Derry” kicking off festivities — is filled with gore, screams, a sinister grin, suggestions of a telltale red balloon, and Pennywise’s laughter blowing in the wind.
Sure, we do not actually see a glimpse of that demonic entity, but rest assured that Bill Skarsgård will be on hand to fill those clown shoes in this show, which begins in the 1960s when Pennywise first began claiming victims and long before the Losers Club took their blood oath.
The first season will contain nine episodes, and Andy and Barbara Muschetti, who scared the hell out of themselves with the It novel while growing up, promise that this story will move “far beyond what we could explore in our It movies.” The tone, as well, will be filled with “heart, humor, humanity, and horror.”
Although this series has been in the making for perhaps too many years (Hollywood strikes and a pandemic will do that), what will transpire has pleased Stephen King, who expressed his approval for continuing “the story of Derry, Maine’s most haunted city” and duly exclaimed, “Red balloons all around!”
Lips have been largely zipped on further details, but in an interview with Screenrant, director Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr. dropped careful hints:
“[I]t’s very, very character-driven… and I think audiences will be as scared as they are in the original movies, and Andy Muschietti’s handprints are all over this series. So, I think people will be very excited for the series. [Mike Flanagan and Andy Muschietti] are quite similar. Both Andy and Mike are horror aficionados, they’re also very much all about emotion, and character.”
Cast
Welcome To Derry will star Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, Stephen Rider, James Remar, and Bill Skarsgård. The series will also include Madeleine Stowe, BJ Harrison, Alixandra Fuchs, and more.
Release Date
Signs previously pointed towards a Halloween-season 2024 release, but HBO/Max Content head Casey Bloys revealed that those Hollywood strikes pushed this series to 2025.
Trailer
A few quick glimpses of footage can be seen in the below clip, starting after the 1:30 minute mark below: