- Confirmed to arrive in October 2025
- The season will have nine episodes
- It will take place before the events of the 2017 feature film.
- A first trailer has been released
- Cast confirmed including Bill Skarsgård
IT: Welcome to Derry looks poised to whisk viewers back to the nightmare-inducing world of Stephen King's It.
First announced back in 2022, this HBO prequel show hails from the creative team behind the two recent feature adaptations, Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs. Andy Muschietti directed several episodes with Fuchs on producing and scripting duties. It marks the second small-screen appearance of sewer-dwelling clown Pennywise after he first terrorized a generation in the cult classic 1990 miniseries.
Fans of the door stopper tome who are familiar with those existing adaptations are in for a treat. This upcoming serialized take is heading back in time to three eras of Pennywise's reign previously unexplored onscreen.
As it goes, we've accumulated all the latest info on the series, from its tentative release date down to the rumors about future seasons, so you can get your fill of everything related to It: Welcome to Derry right here.
Does It: Welcome to Derry have a release date?
Initially slated for a Halloween 2024 release, the premiere was pushed back in light of the writers strike. HBO Max has now confirmed it will arrive in October 2025, with an exact release date not yet announced.
The nine-episode first season started filming in downtown Port Hope, Ontario in May 2023, taking a significant pause for the writers strikes, eventually wrapping in August 2024.
We now know it's coming to our screens in time for the spookiest season of all, and a new social media post read: "ll roads lead to Derry. First stop: #SDCC. #ITWelcomeToDerry is coming this October to HBO Max."
Anyone planning on visiting San Diego Comic Con is in luck, as they've teased that will be their "first stop", so horror fans can expect to see something big there.
Outside of that, we'll have to wait until October to dive back into Stephen King's terrifying world once again.
It: Welcome to Derry: Has a trailer been released?
In May, we got a first proper look at Welcome to Derry which I described as "delightfully" creepy in my trailer reaction.
The trailer takes us back to the Stephen King's cursed fictional town of Derry, and introduces us to some of the residents who are unlucky enough to be haunted by its dark secrets.
What did you see? 🤡🎈 The HBO Original Series #ITWelcomeToDerry is coming to Max in 2025. pic.twitter.com/VYydTv2o6LNovember 11, 2024
Another teaser clip is 7 seconds long and opens with a group of kids pushing their bikes beneath a bridge as a train passes overhead. One girl asks "What did you see?" and a boy responds "A clown" as we see the little tyke pulled underwater by a rotting arm.
It: Welcome to Derry Cast
A story like IT: Welcome to Derry demands a sprawling ensemble and the lineup is stacked:
- Jovan Adepo
- Chris Chalk
- Taylour Paige
- James Remar
- Stephen Rider
- Bill Skarsgård
- Dean Yool
- Madeleine Stowe
- Alixandra Fuchs
- Kimberly Norris Guerrero
- Tyner Rushing
- Dorian Grey
- Thomas Mitchell
- BJ Harrison
- Peter Outerbridge
- Shane Marriott
- Chad Rook
- Joshua Odjick
- Morningstar Angeline
- Rudy Mancuso
Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk and James Remar were all announced back in April 2023 by HBO Max– but their roles remain, like most of the cast, under wraps. It appears Adepo might be playing Mike Hanlon's father, Will, as early promotional photos show him in military uniform with his surname stitched onto his attire.
Well over a year later, Deadline announced Bill Skarsgard's return as the clown Pennywise. Skarsgard performed in the 2017 and 2019 It movies, delivering a performance that carries echoes of Tim Curry's Pennywise from the '90s miniseries yet is entirely his own.
It: Welcome to Derry story and rumors
Described as a prequel series, IT: Welcome to Derry will take place before the events of the 2017 feature film. HBO's official logline is pretty brief: "Set in the world of Stephen King’s IT universe, IT: WELCOME TO DERRY is based on King’s IT novel and expands the vision established by filmmaker Andy Muschietti in the feature films IT and IT Chapter Two."
According to reports, it revolves around what Andy Muschietti terms "interludes" from King's novel. In the book, we learn details about the history of Derry and Pennywise's previous attempts to bring havoc to the town from Mike Hanlon. This first season runs 9 episodes long and is set to explore a specific set of events depicted in Hanlon's writing, namely; the burning of the Black Spot.
Because the film adaptations shifted the action from the 1950s to the 1980s, these earlier periods will also be nudged forward. The main story of the show will take place in 1962 – exactly 27 years before the story depicted in the 2017 film – and unravel the story of the Black Spot. In the novel, we learn about the Black Spot from Hanlon's father, Will, who recants the tale to him from his hospital bed.
During Will Hanlon's stint in the Air Force, he and his fellow airmen open a bar for Black patrons which is targeted by white supremacists. During the ensuing tragedy, Pennywise manifests in the form of a giant bird, snatching its first victim.
While the focus this time around is on new characters and new scenarios, the Muschiettis assure fans that familiar themes will resonate into the show such as friendship, loss and the power of unified belief, but in addition, Andy told Entertainment Weekly that the show "focuses also on the use of fear as a weapon, which is one of the things that is also relevant to our times."
What’s most exciting is that this will bring to the screen moments from King’s extensive It lore that have previously only existed on page.
Will there be future seasons of It: Welcome to Derry?
As it stands now, the plan for the series is to roll out three seasons — each delving into a specific epoch of Pennywise’s reign in the small Maine town. Muschietti, in an interview with Radio TU, explained his plan for what happens beyond season one.
“It’s a story that’s based on the interludes of the book. The interludes are basically chapters that reflect Mike Hanlon’s research… For 27 years, it’s the guy trying to figure out what it is, what did it, who did it, who saw it, and all that stuff.
“So they talk about catastrophic events from the past, like the fire in the Black Spot…. the massacre of the Bradley Gang, a gang of bank robbers in the ’30s… and the explosion of the Kitchener Ironworks. Every time [Pennywise] comes out of hibernation, there is a catastrophic event that happens at the beginning of that cycle."
Each season's story is slated to unravel 27 years before the first. Muschietti goes on to tease: "There’s a reason why the story is told backwards. So the first season is 1962, the second season is 1935, and the third season is 1908.”
It’s hard to imagine a series based on a popular property such as IT would fail to score a season two renewal, so we’d hazard a guess and say a sophomore season will likely drop in late 2026 or early 2027. Of course, we will keep you updated right here!
