It could be time to return to Derry shortly. According to Variety, HBO Max is working on a prequel series to Stephen King’s It. Andy Muschietti, the director of It: Part One and It: Part Two, is also an executive producer on the series, alongside his wife Barbara Muschietti.
The Muschiettis are said to be working on the story alongside Jason Fuchs, another executive producer who will write the script. If the show is picked up for a second season, Andy Muschietti will direct the first episode. The proposed HBO Max program is being produced by Warner Bros. Television, and a writers’ room has already been established.
In 1986, King released his book. It follows a group of youngsters in Derry, in the late 1950s. A malignant thing was preying on and practically consuming the town’s youngsters. While the creature may take on the shape of the children’s worst fears, Pennywise the Dancing Clown was a popular choice. The novel also takes place 27 years later, in the early 1980s, when the now-adult children reunite to fight Pennywise once more.
Welcome to Derry is the working title for the television series, which will depict life in the town prior to the events of It: Part One. The show will be set in the 1960s, while the films altered the story’s two time periods to the 1980s and the present. Bill Skarsgrd’s interest in resuming his role as Pennywise from the movie is presently unclear. Regardless, Pennywise will play a significant role in the series, with the plot delving into his origins. Pennywise is portrayed in the novel as a nasty trans-dimensional creature that arrived on Earth millions of years ago. His origin, however, has never been properly represented on television.
The It prequel has yet to be officially ordered to series by HBO Max, hence no production date has been set.