The main narrative in Stephen King‘s IT centers primarily on two time periods (following the protagonists as children and then 27 years later as adults), but the full story of the monstrous Pennywise The Dancing Clown isn’t just limited to his encounters with the members of The Losers Club. The shapeshifting creature’s history of terror extends far beyond those two special battles – and if filmmaker Andy Muschietti has his druthers, fans will get a much better sense of that intense scope via his expansive vision for the HBO series IT: Welcome To Derry.
It was officially revealed last year that the first season of the upcoming Stephen King TV series will be taking place in the year 1962 (27 years prior to the events that unfold in IT: Chapter One), and the show’s co-creator has now revealed that it is the first arc of what he sees as a three season series. Muschietti recently did an interview with Radio TU (translated via Bloody Disgusting), and he explained in the conversation that there is a plan that will see the story progressively step back further in time with each new run of episodes. Said the filmmaker,
It’s a story that’s based on the interludes of the book. The interludes are basically chapters that reflect Mike Hanlon’s research. They’re fragments of his 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.
To save you doing the tough math involving multiple subtractions of 27, that means that IT: Welcome To Derry Season 2 would be set in 1935 and Season 3 would take place in 1908. Of course, it should be noted that this is theoretical for now. The series has not yet been renewed for additional seasons, which means that executing the full plan for the show will require it to experience a level of success. I’m very much hoping that it does, as it sounds like an amazing opportunity for some great small screen horror.
“The fire in the Black Spot” that Andy Muschietti mentions will be the focal point of IT: Welcome To Derry Season 1 – which features an ensemble cast including Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, Taylour Paige, James Remar, Stephen Rider, and the return of Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise. In the book, the Black Spot is a bar/club that is built in the titular Maine town by a collection of Black soldiers stationed at a local military base (including the father of Losers Club member Mike Hanlon). The establishment meets a tragic end because of racist locals who set the speakeasy ablaze, and Pennywise fans the flames all along the way.
While we don’t yet have a specific release date, IT: Welcome To Derry is one of as many as six Stephen King adaptations set to be released in 2025, and the expectation is that it will premiere on HBO in the fall (timed to spooky season). There is a lot of anticipation for the show, so stay tuned here on CinemaBlend in the coming days, weeks, and months for more updates, and for a regular fix of Stephen King news, check out my weekly column The King Beat, which runs every Thursday.