File this one under “why God, why?!” — but a prequel to It is in development at HBO Max.
That’s right, the terrifying clown who lives in the gutter and preys on children (as if clowns weren’t scary enough) is getting even more airtime both on the screen and in our nightmares.
According to Variety, the series is currently called Welcome to Derry, and will begin in the 1960s in the time leading up to the events of 2017’s It: Part One which was based on the Stephen King horror novel. The story is also said to include the origin story of Pennywise the Clown.
Filmmaker Andy Muschietti, who directed the 2017 movie and its 2019 follow-up It: Part Two is attached to executive produce the series along with Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs.
The two modern-day It films collectively grossed over USD $1.1 billion at the global box office upon their release, proving that coulrophobia (a phobia of clowns) is not nearly as prevalent as I think it should be.
It: Part One starred Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs, Jack Dylan Grazer, Nicholas Hamilton, and Jackson Robert Scott with Bill Skarsgård starring as Pennywise the Dancing Clown. The movie picked up 27 years after the events of the 1990 miniseries which saw Tim Curry take on the gruesome lead role.
King’s book was published in 1986 and is one of his best selling books, after Misery, Pet Sematary and The Stand.
No cast has been announced for the prequel series as yet.
HBO Max is on something of a role at the moment when it comes to prequels and origin stories, with the company also greenlighting a series about The Penguin, with Colin Farrell attached to reprise his role from The Batman. There is also a series in the works about the Bene Gesserit from Dune in the works at the streamer, among several other film-based projects.
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