The Derry Prequel Series Premieres Next Sooner Than Planned on HBO Max
Audiences are thrilled for the chilling show It: Welcome to Derry, which is earning acclaim and weaving in elements from other Stephen King works. Following the premiere, HBO declared that the next chapter will premiere ahead of schedule, timed perfectly for the spookiest night.
Early Release Particulars
Beginning on Halloween night at 3 a.m. EST, the second episode of the Derry prequel will premiere on HBO's online platform, prior to its Sunday HBO premiere. Future chapters of the eight-episode season will premiere on the weekend on HBO and HBO Max, culminating in the season finale on Sunday, December 14.
Storyline Summary
Set in Stephen King’s It universe, It: Welcome to Derry borrows elements from the classic book while enlarging the setting established by the It movie director in It and It Chapter Two. The original It centered on young characters confronting supernatural evils, making it appropriate that the prequel continues that tradition. Yet, the first installment of the HBO series shows it set out to raise the stakes, providing more frightening moments than the movies and establishing a harsh vibe for the upcoming episodes.
Premise and Ideas
Set in 1962, the program features a different group of adults and children inhabiting a seemingly idyllic town concealing a dark secret. The town operates on a brutal, periodic loop—one marked by violence, bigotry, and the supernatural, as a evil entity resurfaces each 27-year cycle. While Welcome to Derry might sound like it leans too heavily to the films on the surface, what differentiates the digital program is its two-sided viewpoint—told from the viewpoints of young and old simultaneously. The kids remain particularly vulnerable to the monster's horror, but grown-ups aren’t spared confronting their own nightmares born from Derry’s deep-seated bigotry and covert otherworldly powers.
It: Welcome to Derry debuts on the 31st of October at 12 a.m. Pacific Time.
