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HBO Max's highly anticipated IT prequel series Welcome to Derry finally has a trailer, and it's delightfully creepy

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Go back to where IT all began

Four children stand in a theater looking scared
(Image credit: Max)
  • IT: Welcome to Derry finally has a trailer
  • The release date is still unconfirmed, but it’s set to arrive "this fall"
  • Bill Skarsgård reprises his iconic role as Pennywise

IT: Welcome to Derry finally has a first-look trailer – and it looks like it’s already shaping up to be one of the best HBO Max shows.

The highly anticipated Stephen King prequel has been teased for a while, but we’d only had casting announcements and some teaser images. Now, though, we know a lot more about the series, which is set to premier later this year – HBO says it’s coming “this fall”, with an exact release date still be be confirmed.

Take a look at the unsettling new trailer below, which takes us back to the cursed fictional town of Derry, and introduces us to some of the residents who are unlucky enough to be haunted by its dark secrets.

What else do we know about IT: Welcome to Derry?

Plot-wise, we know that IT: Welcome to Derry is set in 1962, 27 years before the events of the Bill Skarsgård-led IT movies, which were released in 2017 and 2019 respectively.

We’ll once again encounter the murderous entity known as Pennywise the Clown (though of course it can take many forms), who emerges every 27 years to prey on the children of Derry and feed on their fear.

IT: Chapter One and IT Chapter Two: were directed by Andy Muschietti, who is also the creator of this upcoming HBO Max adaptation. He's joined by his sister Barbara Muschietti and IT: Chapter Two’s screenwriter, Jason Fuchs, who serve as co-creators on the nine-part series.

As well as Bill Skarsgård reprising his role, the IT: Welcome to Derry cast also includes Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, Taylour Paige, James Remar, and Stephen Rider, as local Derry residents – currently, the only named role is Skarsgård’s.

“This is a book we love a lot, and we felt that there was still a lot of story to be covered,” Andy and Barbara Muschietti told Entertainment Weekly.

“It’s so rich with characters and events, we thought we would do justice to the book and the fans by going back into this world. Specifically, we are telling the stories of the interludes, writings by Mike Hanlon based on his investigation that includes interviews he conducts with the older people in the town.

"In Welcome to Derry, we touch on the usual themes that were talked about in the movie – friendship, loss, the power of unified belief – but this story focuses also on the use of fear as a weapon, which is one of the things that is also relevant to our times.”

IT: Welcome to Derry marks the fifth time the bestselling Stephen King novel has been adapted for the screen, but this is the first prequel story. With plenty more lore to explore, I’m really looking forward to seeing how this series unfolds.

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Lucy Buglass
Lucy Buglass
Senior Entertainment Writer

Lucy is a long-time movie and television lover who is an approved critic on Rotten Tomatoes. She has written several reviews in her time, starting with a small self-ran blog called Lucy Goes to Hollywood before moving onto bigger websites such as What's on TV and What to Watch, with TechRadar being her most recent venture. Her interests primarily lie within horror and thriller, loving nothing more than a chilling story that keeps her thinking moments after the credits have rolled. Many of these creepy tales can be found on the streaming services she covers regularly.

When she’s not scaring herself half to death with the various shows and movies she watches, she likes to unwind by playing video games on Easy Mode and has no shame in admitting she’s terrible at them. She also quotes The Simpsons religiously and has a Blinky the Fish tattoo, solidifying her position as a complete nerd. 

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