What do you do when you’ve already killed off the star and antagonist of your franchise? Go the prequel route, because that’s what Warner Bros. wants to do. According to Deadline, Warner Bros. is developing an IT prequel show for the streaming platform, HBO Max.
The prequel, Welcome to Derry, will reportedly explore the origins of Pennywise the Clown as well as the curse that casts a looming shadow over the titular town. Deadline also added that Jason Fuchs will write and produce the project alongside Andy Muschietti, the director of both It: Part One and It: Part Two, along with Barbara Muschietti.
As previously mentioned, Warner Bros.’ reimagining of Stephen King’s iconic horror novel concluded in 2019 with the Losers’ Club triumphing over Pennywise, who was masterfully played by Bill Skarsgård. Most likely, due to the combination of It: Chapter Two’s lack of commercial success – the sequel only made $473 million in 2019 compared to It: Chapter One’s $701 million take back in 2017 – and source material to draw inspiration from, the studio never pursued a threequel. However, given how popular Pennywise was and still is, it made a lot of sense for Warner Bros. to explore the origins of the supernatural entity that haunts Derry.
We wouldn’t be surprised if Warner Bros. brought the Pennywise actor back to portray the demonic clown once again. With a 1960s setting and an audience that loves to put shows and movies on repeat if only to catch easter eggs and small details, it makes sense for Skarsgård to come back for the prequel if only for continuity’s sake. With news of Pennywise’s origin story coming to light, it’s only a matter of time before we start hearing official details about the show.
In other news, March was a pretty big month for Warner Bros. and HBO Max. Matt Reeves’ The Batman continues to pull in the numbers in theaters, resulting in a spin-off starring Colin Farrell. Also, Discovery Plus and HBO Max are expected to combine into a singular app soon following the merger between Warner Media and Discovery. Finally, Batgirl’s lead star, Leslie Grace, just confirmed that the upcoming HBO Max movie is almost finished filming.
