Welcome To Derry Producers Full Creative Freedom

It: Welcome to Derry is set to flesh out the great horror franchise by taking the audience back to a time before the Losers Club took on Pennywise. Following the massive success of the It movies, Warner Bros. is now taking the horror franchise, based on Stephen King’s acclaimed books, to the world of HBO.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the Muschetti siblings, Andy and Barbara, spoke more about expanding the world of It through the small screen with Welcome to Derry. When discussing if Stephen King gave them any notes on specific changes he wished for the series after reading the scripts, Andy Muschietti stressed that “Stephen didn’t approach the show like that.”

The It duology director commented on how King “wasn’t imposing any kind of guidelines on us. I think his desire was to let us play with his toys because from the beginning, we were clear to him.” They had stated to the author, “Your book is a mystery. It’s a puzzle and left unsolved intentionally. And we’re going to create a lot of stuff to bring those enigmas, and also to fill in the gaps in the puzzle. Eventually, this creates a story that’s not in the book. It’s a hidden story.”

His sister and fellow executive producer added that “We wanted to do a show that basically went backwards, where each season was a cycle of Pennywise and he loved that concept and gave us all the rope we needed.” The series is set in the year 1962, taking place more than 20 years before the events of the original film from 2017.

Image courtesy of HBO Max

King has been vocal about his excitement for the HBO horror drama, sharing a glowing review for It: Welcome to Derry on social media. When speaking to ScreenRant about his reaction, series writer Jason Fuchs was more than thrilled about the positive response.

In ScreenRant’s It: Welcome to Derry review, Zach Moser described how the prequel offers “an unrelenting amount of horror and carnage.” The first season will consist of eight episodes, with Muschetti having directed the pilot as one of his installments.

At the time of this story’s publication, a season 2 renewal has yet to be greenlit for the prequel series. It: Welcome to Derry season 1 premieres on Sunday, October 26, at 9 PM on HBO, along with weekly releases on HBO Max.