Summary

• Welcome to Derry, an It prequel show, has now wrapped production on its 9-episode season.
• The HBO series will premiere in 2025 with Bill Skarsgård returning as Pennywise.
• The It universe continuing with a prequel will allow for the further exploration of Pennywise's origins, and the 1960s setting is closer to the one in Stephen King's novel.

Welcome to Derry's story takes place in the 1960s and features the return of Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise, with a release ddate expected in 2025.

Fuchs now shares on Instagram (via Collider) that filming on Welcome to Derry has now concluded. Fuchs' post includes an image of his production chair on set with his name stitched onto the back along with a red balloon, now an iconic image for the franchise. In the caption, he writes:

“237 shoot days later… That is a picture wrap on this season of “Welcome to Derry”. Surreal. What a ride. Can’t wait for you to see this thing.”

Welcome To Derry Is The Best Way To Continue The It Franchise

The Stephen King Adaptations Have Been Hits

The first It movie earned mostly positive reviews from critics and became a major box office hit. Made on an estimated budget of $35 million, the film went on to gross a staggering $702.8 million worldwide. The sequel, which was released to more mixed reviews and made on a bigger estimated budget of $79 million, was also a hit, grossing $473 million. Clearly, then, there is audience interest in the franchise, and it makes sense from a business perspective to continue the story and further expand that world.

In addition to Skarsgård, the Welcome to Derry cast includes: Taylour Paige, James Remar, Madeleine Stowe, Jovan Adepo, Kimberly Guerrero, and Peter Outerbridge, among others.

Instead of another feature film, an HBO series will provide more room to more fully flesh out the town of Derry and its residents. With nine episodes, more time can be devoted to individual characters and their respective arcs, in addition to featuring plenty of callbacks to the films. It Chapter Two's ending closes the door on the stories for many of the main characters and generally wraps things up in a satisfying way, making a prequel a great option over a sequel.

Skarsgård's chilling performance as Pennywise the Clown is widely considered a highlight of both movie adaptations, and Welcome to Derry being a prequel means the monster's origins can now be explored. What's more, the show's 1960s setting is closer to the 1950s-set sequences of King's novel, meaning Welcome to Derry could actually end up being a more faithful take on King's vision, at least in some ways. Many questions remain about the HBO prequel show, but it's now evidently one step closer.

Source: Jason Fuchs (via Collider)