‘Welcome to Derry’ – First Images from the ‘IT’ Prequel Series Head Back to 1962

HBO returns to the world of Stephen King’s horror classic IT with the nine episode prequel series “Welcome to Derry,” and Entertainment Weekly shares the first images today.

Andy Muschietti & Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs are on board the Pennywise prequel project from Warner Bros. Television, with Muschietti set to direct several episodes.

“Welcome to Derry” will kick off its story in 1962 in the time leading up to the events of It: Chapter One (2017). The series is also said to include the origin story of Pennywise the Clown.

“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 Muschietti tell EW. “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.”

They continue, “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.”

Andy Muschietti is directing four of the season’s nine episodes, EW notes.

See more and learn more over on Entertainment Weekly.

Taylour Paige (Zola), Jovan Adepo (“Watchmen”), Chris Chalk (“Perry Mason”), James Remar (Oppenheimer), Madeleine Stowe (Revenge) and Stephen Rider (Daredevil) will star in the upcoming series, with Bill Skarsgård returning as Pennywise the Clown.

Alixandra Fuchs (Hatfields & McCoys), Kimberly Guerrero (The English), Dorian Grey (Star Trek: Discovery), Thomas Mitchell (Gangland Undercover), BJ Harrison (Family Law), Peter Outerbridge (Saw VI), Shane Marriott (Fargo), Chad Rook (Billy the Kid), Joshua Odjick (Little Bird), Rudy Mancuso (The Flash) and Morningstar Angeline (Echo) also star.

The series will air on HBO in addition to streaming on Max.