Bill Skarsgård is reprising his role as Pennywise in Welcome to Derry, Max's upcoming It prequel series.
As well as bringing back the flame-haired clown, Skarsgård is also serving as an executive producer on the series. He is reuniting with Andy Muschietti, the director of It and It Chapter Two, producer Barbara Muschietti and the sequel's co-producer Jason Fuchs to deliver some big scares on the small screen.
Skarsgård first starred as Pennywise in the 2017 adaptation of Stephen King's It and later returned in the 2019 sequel, It Chapter Two. He confirmed in March last year that he was "not involved" with the upcoming prequel, but he obviously wasn't done clowning around and has since signed on to reprise the role.
Although the prequel series has been in development since 2022, details about what to expect are scarce — even the working title "Welcome to Derry" is subject to change. There will, however, be nine episodes, four of which Andy Muschietti will direct as he further expands the world of Stephen King's It universe.
Andy Muschietti is also an executive producer alongside Skarsgård, as well as Barbara Muschietti, Jason Fuchs, Brad Caleb Kane, David Coatsworth, Shelley Meals, Roy Lee, and Dan Lin. Fuchs, who wrote the screenplay for the first episode, and Kane serve as co-showrunners on the latest It installment.
Welcome to Derry was scheduled to be released this Halloween, but HBO and Max chairman/CEO Casey Bloys has suggested 2025 is now more likely.
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X/Twitter here.
