"Red balloons all around."
HBO Max has announced that it is making a prequel series to the recent pair of smash hit horror movies IT and IT Chapter Two.
The films came out in 2017 and 2019 and were adaptations of Stephen King's legendary horror novel IT about a fictional US town named Derry that is stalked by a shape-shifting evil entity that often appears in the form of a dancing clown named Pennywise.
Splitting the mammoth book into two parts, the 2017 movie went on to become the highest-grossing horror movie of all time, while the 2019 movie was the fifth highest.
The prequel series currently has the title Welcome to Derry and is being developed by Andy Muschietti, who directed the recent movie adaptations of King's book, alongside Barbara Muschietti (Mama), Brad Caleb Kane (Tokyo Vice) and Jason Fuchs (Wonder Woman).
Pennywise in IT
"Set in the world of Stephen King’s IT universe, Welcome to Derry (working title) 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," HBO Max's logline reads.
The streamer also said that Andy Muschietti will direct multiple episodes of the series, including its pilot.
“As teenagers, we took turns reading chapters of Stephen King’s IT until the thick paperback fell to pieces," Andy and Barbara Muschietti said in a statement.
"IT is an epic story that contains multitudes, far beyond what we could explore in our IT movies. We can’t wait to share the depths of Steve's novel, in all its heart, humor, humanity and horror.”
Meanwhile, Stephen King added: “I’m excited that the story of Derry, Maine’s most haunted city, is continuing, and I’m glad Andy Muschietti is going to be overseeing the frightening festivities, along with a brain trust including his talented sister, Barbara. Red balloons all around."
The series does not have a release date as of yet, though later in the year, we will be getting movie adaptations of two other Stephen King stories: Salem's Lot and The Boogeyman.
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