Well, it’s finally happened: HBO Max’s long-awaited IT prequel series, Welcome to Derry, has gone into production!
Andy Muschietti (director of IT and IT: Chapter Two) and Barbara Muschietti are onboard to produce, Jason Fuchs and Brad Caleb Kane will serve as the series’ showrunners, and a big chunk of the cast has already been hired. We’ve known all of this for some time, but now – thanks to a post made to Andy Muschietti’s Instagram account over the weekend – it appears that cameras have finally begun rolling.
If you’re wondering how the ongoing WGA strike is going to impact Welcome to Derry, well, Movieweb offers the following:
“While a large number of series and movies halt their productions in the midst of the Hollywood writers’ strike, HBO is moving forward with some of those that already have their scripts ready, like the second season of House of the Dragon and the long-awaited Welcome to Derry.”
And if you’re wondering about Welcome to Derry‘s cast, here’s a list of everyone we know to be involved with the production (note: as of this writing, we have no idea who any of these folks are playing): Madeline Stowe, Chris Chalk, Jovan Adepo, James Remar, Taylour Paige, and Stephen Rider. The series is said to take place decades in the past, before the events depicted in Muschietti’s IT duology, but beyond that we’ve got very little to go on.
As for the name on that door: “Clint Bowers” is almost certainly the grandfather of Henry Bowers, the teen bully who menaced the Loser’s Club in Muschietti’s IT films and in the Stephen King novel that inspired them. You’ll recall that Henry’s dad, Butch, was a Derry cop in Muschietti’s films. We’re guessing Clint is Butch’s dad, and we’re further guessing that he’s just as dangerous as the rest of that family.
Will Welcome to Derry get its very own Pennywise? How many episodes will the first season contain? Will this series depict Pennywise’s crash-landing on Earth, long before Derry even existed? There’s a lot we still don’t know, but we’re very curious to learn the answers to these questions and a whole lot more. Stay tuned for further updates on Welcome to Derry as they become available, friends!
