Although the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes delayed its release, Stephen King fans will get to enjoy a new HBO/Max series in 2025, “IT: Welcome to Derry.” Fans of actress Taylour Paige will get to watch her in a regularly recurring role for the first time since she played Ahsha on “Hit the Floor.”
A Hush-hush Role
The producers have tagged only one character name, Pennywise, with its acting counterpart, Bill Skarsgård, according to the series IMDB page. HBO has remained so closed-mouthed about the series that as far as the IMDB shows, only one episode exists.
No Plot Hints from Interviews
Cast members haven’t said any more than HBO in their interviews either. In a recent interview with MSN, Skarsgård would only say, “We explored things that we haven’t explored in the movies—particularly one side of it, which I can’t go into.”
The series director and producers didn’t reveal anything more than that to People magazine. Set in 1962, the year the Black Spot burned, and 27 years before the events in “IT,” the series explores a dormant time for Pennywise, but that doesn’t remove the element of terror from Derry.
“IT” Director Talks Themes
The series delves into the themes of “friendship, loss, the power of unified belief,” director Andy Muschietti said in an EW interview. “But this story focuses also on the use of fear as a weapon, which is one of the things that is also relevant to our times,” he added.
Pilot Episode to Air in 2025
As the weeks pass and we near 2025, fans of King, Skarsgård, and Paige will soon see the first episode. How much of Skarsgård and Paige we’ll see remains a mystery. Muschietti has expounded on where he’s drawing story ideas. In the original book by King, two characters, Mike Hanlon and his father, speak of Derry’s past. Hanlon’s character commits these tidbits to paper, and the second installment of the “IT” films explored some of this. Welcome to Derry takes a deep dive into the town’s history, according to EW.
HBO’s upcoming preview spot, aired around Halloween 2024, shows scenes from the upcoming show. It shows Paige in a blue and green business suit, sporting a bob haircut, and actors Chris Chalk, Jovan Adepo, and Rudy Mancuso in military uniform. Pennywise has a new generation of children to torment, and in the series, we meet them, a range of ages from grammar schoolers to teens. Everyone will have to watch HBO and Max in 2025 to find out what happens.