Ever since going live almost two years ago, HBO Max has been on a spinoff craze. Any movie that gets attention winds up getting plundered for more content. There are endless DC shows, including multiple ones about the recent The Batman, including one about Colin Farrell’s the Penguin. Even Dune is getting a show about the Bene Gesserit. Now the streamer is going back to a series that concluded in 2019.
As per Variety, It, the two-film take on one of Stephen King’s most beloved doorstops to the big screen, is getting a prequel series that will air on HBO Max. Entitled Welcome to Derry, it will dive into the backstory of both the Maine town that wound up haunted by Pennywise, a murderous, shape-shifting creature that most often appears as a clown, as well as the origin of Pennywise himself.
Published in 1986, It was King’s 22nd book (and 17th under his own name), as well as one of his longest, running over 1,100 pages. Like many King works, it was adapted for the screen. It was first adapted into a 1990 TV miniseries, and later into an Indian TV show. The film version split the book into two movies. The first, tackling the characters’ younger days, arrived in 2017, and the second, starring the likes of James McAvoy, Bill Hader, and future Oscar-winner Jessica Chastain, in 2019. Both films were very long — Chapter Two ran nearly three hours — but now the franchise will be longer still.
(Via Variety)