Bill Skarsgård in “IT: Welcome to Derry.”
HBO/Brooke Palmer
Bill Skarsgård’s hit horror series IT: Welcome to Derry finishes its first season on Sunday. Will Pennywise the Dancing Clown be back to terrify viewers in the future?
IT: Welcome to Derry’s eight-episode season premiered on Oct. 26 and wraps up Sunday night on cable on HBO and streaming on HBO Max. The official summary for the series reads, “Set in the world of Stephen King’s IT universe, IT: Welcome to Derry is based on King’s IT novel and expands the vision established by filmmaker Andy Muschietti in the feature films IT and IT Chapter Two.”
Skarsgård (Nosferatu), of course, played Pennywise in Muschietti’s blockbuster IT movies from 2017 and 2019. Developed for television by Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs — who serves as the series’ showrunner — IT: Welcome to Derry also stars Jovan Adepo, Taylour Paige, Chris Chalk, James Remar, Stephen Rider, Madeleine Stowe and Rudy Mancuso.
IT: Welcome to Derry was a ratings hit out of the gate, as the series’ pilot episode scored 5.7 million cross-platform viewers on HBO and HBO Max in its first three days, according to The Wrap. The trade publication also noted that IT: Welcome to Derry marked the third biggest debut in HBO Max history, behind House of the Dragon and The Last of Us.
Of course, big ratings go a long way for any series when it’s looking for renewal, and according to Variety, IT: Welcome to Derry’s seventh episode last week drew 5.8 million cross-platform viewers in its first three days.
The viewership, though, didn’t stop there. Variety reported last week that IT: Welcome to Derry to date is averaging 10.7 million viewers per episode, which is positive news for the series as Warner Bros. Discovery decides whether it will renew the show.
The Muschiettis Have A Three-Season Plan For ‘IT: Welcome to Derry’
While Warner Bros. Discovery has not announced yet whether there will be an IT: Welcome to Derry Season 2, director Andy Muschietti told Variety in October that he and his producer sister, Barbara Muschietti, have much more planned for Pennywise.
“Our big story arc involves three seasons, mainly based on the three critical cycles of Pennywise, which are 1962, 1935 and 1908,” Andy Muschietti told Variety.
While IT and IT: Chapter Two were adapted from Stephen King’s novel, the director said the series is inspired by “interludes” in the book that dictate the story of the series be told in reverse.
“Welcome to Derry explores the deeper lore alluded to throughout the book,” Andy Muscietti told Variety. “I went into the book and looked at the interludes. I realized there was a hidden story there, and that Stephen King was leaving crumbs that could guide is somewhere. It’s a story told backwards.”
The IT: Welcome to Derry Season 1 finale airs Sunday night on cable’s HBO and streams on HBO Max.
