HBO has released a trailer teaser for IT: Welcome to Derry, confirming that the first teaser will be released tomorrow. It doesn't reveal much, but we see a woman with a creepy smile watching a familiar red balloon outside, someone thrashing about in water, and a glimpse into the drains where Pennywise the Clown resides.
Pennywise himself is absent, though we'd bet on the killer clown being put front and centre in the full teaser.
The series, from Warner Bros. Television and developed for television by filmmakers Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti (IT, The Flash) and Jason Fuchs (Wonder Woman), will debut on HBO later this year and will also be available to stream on Max. Muschietti will direct four episodes of the nine-episode series.
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 cast is led by Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, James Remar, Stephen Rider, Madeleine Stowe, Rudy Mancuso, and Bill Skarsgård.
Earlier this year, Skarsgård admitted that he was conflicted about playing Pennywise again. "Yeah. I felt like I was done with it, in a way. It was also because I was shooting this [Nosferatu], I was doing Orlok, and, to me, it felt like, 'This is the nail in the coffin of my monster roles.' Pun intended."
"So I did feel I was kind of over it and wanted to do different things. The Pennywise thing as well, I’ve been quite defined by it. Like, that’s 26-year-old me, I’m not still a young man. Barbara and Andy, the Muschettis, are doing it and I love them. They’re very close friends. Family, even. I’m the godfather of his son. I love them," he continued. "So, alright, let’s bring him back."
Produced by HBO and Warner Bros. Television, with a story by Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs, IT: Welcome to Derry is based on the novel IT by Stephen King.
Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti (through their Double Dream production company), Jason Fuchs, Brad Caleb Kane, David Coatsworth, Bill Skarsgård, Shelley Meals, Roy Lee, and Dan Lin are executive producers. Fuchs, who wrote the teleplay for the first episode, and Kane serve as co-showrunners on the project.
As noted, IT: Welcome to Derry will premiere on HBO and HBO Max later this year.