Welcome to Derry: The Untold Secrets of Pennywise, is an upcoming horror television series that uncovers the origins of Pennywise the Dancing Clown (a shape-shifting creature, “It”, created by American author Stephen King). The prequel, first announced by HBO Max in March 2022 and given the green light in February 2023, has just cast its first actors.
What’s Welcome to Derry?
Welcome to Derry is a prequel series to the IT franchise, which we told you all about in this previous post. The franchise, so far consists of two movies: It Chapter One, and It Chapter Two (both of which are inspired by the 1986 novel It by Stephen King). The films surpassed box-office expectations. The first one actually cost $35 million and doubled that just on opening weekend, so there had been talks about expanding the franchise for a while.
The show will focus on the origin story of Pennywise the Dancing Clown. So, what’s the narrative about, in just a few words? It (or Pennywise) is a shape-shifting creature, billions of years old, who feeds on kids. After he’s satisfied, he hibernates between 27 and 30 years – hence why the latest movies take place in 1989 and 2016 (and why the new series is said to be set in the 1960s).
The book is pretty scary, and the 1990s TV mini-series, directed by Tommy Lee Wallace, received mixed reviews because it replaced the most horrific elements with some stereotypes and cliches. The new movies, though, were generally considered a good update, with many scenes building up to rather terrifying and uncomfortable climaxes. So, we’re definitely curious about the prequel!
What We Know About The Cast and The Series
Last April, HBO Max announced who the first four actors to participate in the sequel were. So far, we’ve got Jovan Adepo (Watchmen, Babylon), Taylour Paige (Boogie, Zola), James Remar (The Warriors, Dexter), and Chris Chalk (Perry Mason, Gotham). It seems Madelaine Store will also be a recurring guest and Stephen Rider a series regular.
The first episode of the sequel will be written by Jason Fuchs, who co-produced It Chapter Two. It will apparently be based on a story by Fuchs and siblings Andy and Barbara Muschietti, who made the two first films. Andy Muschietti, in fact, is also set to direct many of the remaining episodes of Welcome to Derry (possibly along with Shelley Meals, Dan Lin, Brad Caleb Kane, and Roy Lee).
So, what else do we know about the new production? Well, looking at the IMDB page for the new series, we can also see there are a few filming locations listed, including Toronto and Ontario. This is slightly worrying since the 2023 Writers Guild of America began its strike in May 2023. However, filming is set to continue through December, with a potential release date sometime in 2024.
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I know everything about it and would love to hear more. I would even like to be in it ahh