‘It: Welcome to Derry’ Releasing Second Episode Early for Halloween

Fans headed back to the sewers when It: Welcome to Derry, a television series companion to the events of Stephen King’s It, arrived on HBO and HBO Max on October 26, and viewers won’t have to wait long for more.

The Pennywise prequel show will release its second episode, “The Thing in the Dark,” to streamers a few days early in honor of Halloween, ahead of its already-planned Sunday, November 2 airing.

When will new episodes of It: Welcome to Derry air?

It: Welcome to Derry airs on Sundays at 9/8c on HBO and HBO Max. The nine-episode series’ first episode arrived on October 26, and it will run weekly through the finale on December 21. However, fans of the series will get to watch the second episode early, as it will drop on HBO Max on Friday, October 31, at 12 a.m. PT/3 a.m. ET. It will then air on HBO on Sunday, November 2, at 9/8c, as previously planned.

Who stars in Welcome to Derry?

Bill Skarsgård has been given free rein to terrorize all the children of the town yet again in this series. The actor previously portrayed Pennywise the Dancing Clown, the ubiquitous villain who emerges every 27 years to feed on scared kids, in Andy Muschietti’s adaptation films It and It: Chapter Two.

The series also stars Taylour Paige and Jovan Adepo as Charlotte and Leroy Hanlon; Chris Chalk as Dick Hallorann; James Remar as General Francis Shaw; Stephen Rider and Amanda Christine as Hank and Ronnie Grogan; Clara Stack as Lilly Bainbridge; and Matilda Lawler as Margie.  Madeleine Stowe, Rudy Mancuso, Blake Camperon James, and Arian S. Cartaya also star in the series.

Who helms It: Welcome to Derry?

Andy Muschietti returned to the franchise alongside producing partner Barbara Muschietti and co-producer Jason Fuchs. Muschietti helmed the first episode and several others. Brad Caleb Kane also executive produced.

How many seasons of It: Welcome to Derry will there be?

Muschietti revealed that he has a three-season plan, with Season 1 taking place in 1962, Season 2 jumping back to 1935, and Season 3 in 1908.

What is It: Welcome to Derry about?

The logline for It: Welcome to Derry has been revealed by Max to be as follows: “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.”

The first episode premiered on Sunday, October 26, and transported audiences into 1962, when a new cycle of Pennywise’s terror began just as the Hanlon family made way to into town on an Air Force assignment.

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What else should I know about It: Welcome to Derry?

Production on the series first began in Toronto in May 2023, but shooting was suspended as a result of the SAG-AFTRA strikes that summer and fall. This resulted in a delayed premiere date.

Brooke Palmer/HBO

Brooke Palmer/HBO

Brooke Palmer/HBO

Brooke Palmer/HBO

Brooke Palmer/HBO

Brooke Palmer/HBO

Brooke Palmer/HBO

Brooke Palmer/HBO

It: Welcome to Derry, Series Premiere October 26, HBO Max

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