Max series “Welcome to Derry” will be bringing a familiar face back to terrorize the children: Bill Skarsgård is set to reprise his role as Pennywise in the prequel series, Deadline reports tonight.
The upcoming series will premiere sometime in 2025. The series will be a prequel to the two Stephen King-based IT movies from Andy Muschietti.
Skarsgård is set to star in and executive produce. The actor joins the previously announced cast of Taylour Paige (Zola), Jovan Adepo (“Watchmen”), Chris Chalk (“Perry Mason”), James Remar (Oppenheimer), Madeleine Stowe (Revenge) and Stephen Rider (Daredevil).
Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs are on board the Pennywise prequel project from Warner Bros. Television, with Muschietti set to direct four episodes of the nine-episode series.
“The series will begin in the 1960s in the time leading up to the events of It: Part One, the 2017 film based on the Stephen King horror novel. The story is also said to include the origin story of Pennywise the Clown.”
Jason Fuchs (Wonder Woman, Ice Age: Continental Drift) and Brad Caleb Kane (“Moonhaven,” “Black Sails,” “Fringe”) will serve as co-showrunners for the prequel series.
Published in 1986, Stephen King’s massive novel was of course first turned into a mini-series in 1990, with Tim Curry playing the role later played by Bill Skarsgård in the movies. The tale centers on the town of Derry, Maine, where a group of friends called the Losers’ Club battle Pennywise the killer clown first as kids, and then 27 years later as adults.
This marks Skarsgård’s return to King’s TV universe, as he previously starred in Hulu series “Castle Rock.”
Stay tuned for additional details on the series as they arrive. In the meantime, you can see Skarsgård in this year’s Boy Kills World, and look for his take on The Crow in August.