Warner Bros. Pictures
Bill Skarsgard will terrify audiences once more as Pennywise the Dancing Clown in a new TV series, "IT: Welcome to Derry."
In 2017, Warner Bros. delivered a terrifying new take on Stephen King's "IT" starring Skarsgard as Pennywise, the monstrous creature that haunts a group of children in the form of a creepy clown.
According to TheNumbers.com, the film and its 2019 sequel, "IT: Chapter Two," collectively took more than $1 billion at the box office. That haul means it's little surprise Warner Bros. wants to keep the franchise alive, but this time it's heading for the small screen.
"IT: Welcome to Derry" will tell Pennywise's story years before he meets Bill Denborough (Jaeden Martell) and his friends, although the specifics of the plot are yet to be revealed.
Here's what we know about the HBO series.
Warner Bros. Pictures
Horror fans might be concerned that some of the franchise's signature shocking violence will be toned down for television.
Skarsgard was asked on the "Happy Sad Confused" podcast about how scary "Welcome to Derry" will be. He replied: "It's pretty hardcore man."
The actor explained that although he originally wanted to leave the character behind, he enjoyed exploring Pennywise further with Andy Muschietti, the director of "IT" and one of the prequel's developers.
Skarsgard said: "It was fun. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, actually, and there's parts of it where we got to explore sides of old Pennywise that we haven't seen. And that's fun. I remembered how much I enjoy working with Andy and we do have a lot of fun together. I think there's some cool stuff in there that we haven't seen that I'm excited for the people to watch and enjoy hopefully."
Brooke Palmer/HBO
Skarsgard will be joined by "Overlord" and "Babylon" star Jovan Adepo, "Gotham" actor Chris Chalk, and "Zola" actor Taylour Paige. James Remar, who is known for "Dexter" and "Oppenheimer," is also in the cast.
HBO has not confirmed a release date for the series, but included the nine-episode season in its 2025 teaser.
In the brief footage, which can be seen below, a group of kids talk about seeing a clown, and a grotesque arm pulls one of them into a murky lake.
Another creepy shot sees someone standing in a store window with an unnerving grin on their face.
