An 'It' Prequel TV Series Is Being Made By HBO Max

Stephen King’s mammoth 1,000-page novel, It, has been adapted for the screen a few times; most recently into a pair of movies focused separately on the book's two acts.

The first film follows the story of a group of seven misfit children who refer to themselves as the Losers’ Club. The group band together to fight against the titular It, an evil entity with the power to shapeshift. It is most commonly depicted in the form of Pennywise the clown, though it appears as a variety of people, monsters and things throughout the movie. In the second act, the group get back together, this time as adults, to take down It once more.

You can check out actor Bill Skarsgård’s creepy audition for the role of It in the video below.

The story, as written by King, was wrapped up within the two films - but now Warner Bros., who produced the movies, wants to create a new story based on the world. As reported by Variety, a TV show is being developed set before the narrative of the first film. The current working title is Welcome To Derry, and the series is reported to take place in the 1960s.

No story details have been revealed as of yet, though given the time period, it must be set before the birth of the original Losers’ Club members as seen in the two modern movies. The director of the films, Andy Muschietti, has returned as an executive producer. Muschietti is developing the story alongside his sister Barbara, and Jason Fuchs. Fuchs, who was a writer on 2017’s Wonder Woman, is also attached to pen the script.

It is not certain that the project will go ahead, but if it does Muschietti is slated to direct the first episode. The series will become part of the HBO Max streaming service, which has made moves on a number of Warner Bros. films for TV adaptations. It was previously announced that Colin Farrell’s version of the Penguin from The Batman could be returning for his own HBO Max miniseries.