HBO’s upcoming adaptation of one of Stephen King’s most popular novels, It: Welcome to Derry, is poised to break a six-year adaptation streak that has shaped King’s works for years. Ever since It first released in 2017, stories of Bill Skarsgård’s murderous clown, Pennywise, and the unsettling town of Derry, Maine have terrified audiences. It has always been one of Stephen King’s best books, so it is hardly surprising that the story has inspired not only two movie adaptations, but also a two-part TV miniseries in 1990, and now an HBO series set to release in 2025.

One of the unique aspects of the world of It is that Pennywise only emerges in 27-year cycles. So, while the first It movie took place in 1988, It Chapter Two took place in 2016. The upcoming HBO adaptation, It: Welcome to Derry, will instead go back in time to 1962. These 27-year cycles set It: Welcome to Derry up to tell terrifying stories as the show travels further back in time. For this reason, it was incredibly exciting when HBO announced that rather than being a limited series, It: Welcome to Derry has a three-season plan.

It: Welcome To Derry’s 3-Season Plan Ends A Stephen King Miniseries Streak That Began In 2019

Recent Shows Had Different Release Plans

The fact that It: Welcome to Derry will get three seasons is exciting enough on its own, but what makes it particularly interesting is that having a multi-season run will break a 6-year streak for TV adaptations of Stephen King novels. Since Castle Rock and Mr. Mercedes ended in 2019, all TV adaptations of Stephen King’s work have been miniseries or ended after 1 season.

HBO’s previous Stephen King adaptation, The Outsider, received generally positive reviews when it released in 2020, but it was a 10-episode miniseries that was never envisioned going longer. Similarly, The Stand on CBS All Access was a 9-episode miniseries. The only Stephen King adaptation in the past 6 years to even hint at a multi-season run was Chapelwaite on Epix, but plans for a second installment were ultimately scrapped by MGM+. And although Prime Video’s adaptation of Carrie is hotly anticipated, Carrie is only planned to be an 8-episode limited series.

But HBO plans to give It: Welcome to Derry a full three seasons to explore Derry and all the horror therein. Welcome to Derry has the opportunity to prove that Stephen King’s novels have staying power in the streaming era of television. With any luck, It: Welcome to Derry could usher in a new era of King adaptations – as one of the most prolific horror authors ever, there is no shortage of fascinating material waiting for adaptation.

Another Upcoming Stephen King Show Has A Great Chance To Curb His Miniseries Adaptation Streak

Multiple King Adaptations Are In The Works

And there are still more adaptations of Stephen King’s works coming. An adaptation of Stephen King’s 2019 novel, The Institute, is set to release on MGM+ on July 13, 2025, and Prime Video’s Carrie adaptation began principal photography in June. On top of that, British filmmaker Paul Greengrass, known for the Jason Bourne franchise, announced in 2022 that he planned to work on an adaptation of Fairy Tale, and repeated his involvement in 2024.

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Although Carrie is being explicitly promoted as a miniseries, The Institute has been a bit more vague about its future plans. So far, it’s set to premiere as a single 8-episode season, but MGM+ has not foreclosed the possibility of additional episodes later. And Fairy Tale is so far in pre-production that anything is possible. Although the It franchise has been the most popular recent adaptation of King’s work, it could very well be the starting point for a new era of horror television. And It: Welcome to Derry could be the first of many multi-season King adaptations.