Jason Fuchs and Brad Caleb Kane have signed on to serve as co-showrunners on the upcoming It prequel series, Welcome to Derry, Variety is reporting. The supernatural horror show is currently in development from Andy and Barbara Muschietti at HBO Max, which has given the project a series production commitment.
The streaming service has not yet revealed any plot details about the show, besides the fact that it will serve as an origin story to the films It: Chapter One and It: Chapter Two, which were directed by Andy.
Welcome to Derry will begin in the 1960s in the time leading up to the events of It: Part One. It will also explore the history of the titular Maine town that the book and movies are set in, which has a long history of being terrorized by Pennywise the Clown.
As revealed in the recent films, Pennywise first arrived in Derry in 1715 via an asteroid. Since then, he reemerges about every 27 years to terrorize the children in the town until it’s time to hibernate again.
It was previously reported that Fuchs penned the teleplay for the first episode of Welcome to Derry. The teleplay is based on a story the Saturn Award-nominated screenwriter scribed with the Muschiettis, who brought him onto the project.
Upon its release in 2019, It: Chapter Two seemingly tied up Pennywise’s story. However, Andy has already explained that he feels there’s a whole mythology that can be explored throughout the prequel series.
“Mythology is something that always has opportunities to explore,” the filmmaker said. “It has been on Earth for millions of years. He’s been in contact with humans for hundreds of years, every 27 years. So, you can imagine the amount of material.”
Andy was joined on the production of the It movies by Barbara, who served as a producer. Fuchs was a co-producer on the sequel.
Fuchs and Kane will executive produce Welcome to Derry with the Muschiettis. Andy is being considered to helm the show’s premiere episode. The Muschiettis are executive producing the series under their Double Dream production banner. Warner Bros. Television is serving as the studio on Welcome to Derry, as WB produced the two films.
Fuchs is primarily known for his work on features, including have worked on the screenplays or stories for such projects as Wonder Woman, Pan, Ice Age: Continental Drift and I Still See You.
Kane recently wrote such shows as Moonhaven and Tokyo Vice. He has also written multiple episodes of series like Warrior, Black Sails and Fringe.
The two It movies collectively grossed over $1.1 billion at the global box office upon their releases in 2017 and 2019. The follow-up film took place 27 years after the events of its predecessor, with a new adult cast taking over from the kids in the original movie.
The It theatrical films were released after the 1986 Stephen King novel they were based on was previously adapted into a two-part miniseries for ABC in 1990, which featured Tim Curry as Pennywise. It’s currently unknown if cast members from the recent movies will appear on the show.