It: Welcome to Derry Debuts Second Ahead of Schedule on HBO Max
Audiences are thrilled for the horror series It: Welcome to Derry, already earning acclaim and incorporating themes from other Stephen King works. Just one day after launch, the broadcaster has revealed that the second installment will premiere ahead of schedule, released fittingly for the spookiest night.
Premiere Shift Particulars
Beginning on the last day of October at 3 a.m. EST, the next part of It: Welcome to Derry will make its debut on the streaming service, ahead of its traditional TV airing. Subsequent episodes of the series run will continue to air on the weekend on the network and streaming service, leading up to the concluding chapter on Sunday, December 14.
Series Overview
Taking place within Stephen King’s It universe, the new series draws from King’s iconic novel while enlarging the world realized by filmmaker Andy Muschietti in the two It films. The first It movie focused on kids and teens confronting unimaginable horrors, so it’s fitting that the series upholds that legacy. Yet, the first installment of the HBO series demonstrates it set out to escalate the fear, offering even more intense scares than the cinematic versions and setting a harsh vibe for the rest of the season.
Setting and Themes
Located in the early '60s, the program presents a fresh cast of adults and children residing in a apparently peaceful community hiding a dark secret. Derry follows a vicious, repeating pattern—one marked by hostility, discrimination, and otherworldly forces, as a terrifying being reappears once every three decades. While It: Welcome to Derry might seem like it strays too near to the cinematic adaptations on the surface, what distinguishes the HBO Max series is its two-sided viewpoint—unfolding through the eyes of both children and adults simultaneously. Younger characters are highly exposed to It's terror, but older characters don't escape dealing with their individual fears born from local discrimination and lurking supernatural forces.
It: Welcome to Derry debuts on October 31 at 12 a.m. Pacific Time.
