HBO is heading back to Derry. Believe IT.
The network has renewed IT: Welcome to Derry for a second season, continuing Andy and Barbara Muschietti’s expansion of Stephen King’s IT universe following a first season that ranked among the four biggest series premieres globally in HBO Max history.
Brad Caleb Kane will return as showrunner for Season 2, which will take the story even further back in time. The new chapter will be set in 1935 during the Great Depression and center on the bloody massacre of the Bradley Gang, a group of bank robbers who stop in Derry to buy ammunition and encounter something far more horrifying than law enforcement.
“We are excited to return to the chilling world of Derry and to further expand on Andy and Barbara Muschietti’s horrifically iconic adaptation,” said Sarah Aubrey, Head of HBO Max Original Programming. She added that Season 2 will deepen “the terror, the mystery, and the unforgettable Pennywise lore that fans love to devour.”
The eight-episode first season expanded on the mythology established in Andy Muschietti’s IT and IT Chapter Two, digging into Derry’s cursed history and the recurring cycles of violence tied to the entity that most famously takes the form of Pennywise.
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Season 2 will continue that approach by exploring another infamous event from the town’s past. The Bradley Gang massacre is part of the mythology King established in his novel, giving the series another opportunity to connect Derry’s human brutality with the supernatural force feeding beneath it.
Clancy Collins White, President of Creative Affairs at Warner Bros. Television, said the next season will take viewers on “a spine-tingling new journey into the 1930s,” while uncovering more of what lies beneath the town.
Andy and Barbara Muschietti added, “Continuing to explore and expand on the amazing world Stephen King created is an absolute privilege. The support of our partners at HBO and Warner Bros. Television is priceless. Boy do we love our jobs!”
Produced by HBO and Warner Bros. Television, IT: Welcome to Derry is executive produced by Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti through Double Dream, along with Kane, Roy Lee, Dan Lin, Jamie Travis, and Dhana Gilbert.
The full first season is currently streaming on HBO Max. HBO has not yet announced a premiere date for Season 2.
And apparently, Derry still has plenty of nightmares left to uncover.
The Geek is a working screenwriter, director and screenwriting instructor.
