Summary
- HBO’s awaited prequel “Welcome to Derry” has been delayed until 2026, disappointing Stephen King and horror fans.
- The series will differ from “It” by not hesitating to kill child characters, setting high expectations.
- Fans can look forward to new content like “The Life of Chuck” and “The Monkey” before Welcome to Derry.
There’s unsettling news that the horror and Stephen King community won’t take lightly. HBO boasts an impressive 2025 slate, complete with powerhouse originals and sequel series such as A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Peacemaker Season 2, Euphoria Season 3, The Last of Us Season 2, and The White Lotus Season 3 — all of which were teased in a sizzle reel in November 2024. Welcome to Derry, the prequel to the live-action Stephen King adaptations It and It: Chapter Two, was among the most anticipated of that lineup.
Billed as a three-season arc, Welcome to Derry will unravel the dark history of Derry and the town’s clown-related deaths (a subtle way of putting Pennywise’s murders) in an unusual backward clock: 27 years for each season. The first will take place in 1962, the second in 1935, and the third in 1908. Andy Muschietti, the director of both movies, is on board to direct the first four episodes of the series. In short, fans were supposed to be greeted by a three-season live-action backstory of Pennywise and Derry’s unhealthy relationship sometime in 2025. But not anymore.
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There’s Bad News For Stephen King and Horror Fans
The Series Won’t Be Around Until 2026
Fans eagerly awaiting Welcome to Derry are in for a disappointment. According to industry analyst Luiz Fernando on X, Welcome to Derry has been pushed back until 2026 — without any definitive release date. This makes it the second such delay after an expected 2024 debut was postponed to 2025. Worthy of note is that the series is being promoted as an HBO seriea, which isn’t surprising given that the It IP is just one of the major productions to have transitioned from Max to HBO, including the highly anticipated Harry Potter series, Dune: Prophecy, and The Penguin.
For a series announced three years ago, and one that completed filming in the fall of last year, 2026 will be an excruciatingly long wait. If there is to be any silver lining, it’s that this isn’t some anti-climax like those associated with The Batman Part 2 and its consistent delays. Put another way, the secrecy surrounding the series at least ensures that anticipation remains high when Pennywise finally returns.
Will Welcome To Derry Differ From It and It: Chapter Two?
More Children Will Die, Apparently
The obvious release format difference aside, Welcome to Derry will differ from 2017’s It and 2019’s It Chapter Two by not hesitating to kill child characters. Casting director Rich Delia had let this slip in an interview with The Direct, saying:
[…] to find these kids and find the most amazing, memorable kids that the audience will love, you know, falling in love with, and then some of them, of course, watching them die.
To be considered a faithful enough adaptation as It is left to fans and King himself, but coming off the backs of hugely successful predecessors, Welcome to Derry has big shoes to fill. With an 85% rating from 387 critics’ reviews, It is one of the highest-rated horror films on Rotten Tomatoes. The sequel, It: Chapter Two regressed in this aspect, but it still sports a respectable 62%.
What’s Next for Stephen King (And Horror) Fans?
The Life of Chuck, The Monkey, and The Last of Us Might Be Sufficient Compensation
Fans eager to revisit It and It Chapter Two can purchase both films on Amazon Prime Video or Apple TV, while It Chapter Two is also available for streaming on Max. However, those craving some new Stephen King-IP content will have to wait until summer — precisely May 30, 2025 — for Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of The Life of Chuck. As a lesser-known King-IP, it’s rightly placed a few weeks before the blockbuster rush of June and July, which features heavy-weights such as Superman, Fantastic Four: First Steps, Jurassic World Rebirth, and the live-action How to Train Your Dragon. These movies are all more than capable of crushing the quiet run of The Life of Chuck at the box office. If any proof exists of the film’s quality, it’s the People’s Choice Award it won at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.
While King’s literary fans might appreciate The Life of Chuck‘s science fiction elements, horror purists may find it lacking in the terror they seek. Enter Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey to unite both fandoms. Scheduled for theatrical release on February 21, the movie will follow the eerie tale of Hal Shelburn and his curse monkey toy from a 1980 King novella of the same name. The author himself is pleased with the Perkins’ adaptation, describing it as “bat**** insane” on Threads.
Following its theatrical run, The Monkey is expected to land on Hulu, thanks to a distribution deal with Neon. However, don’t expect it to stream immediately — Neon’s previous releases have typically taken at least four months to arrive on Hulu, meaning June 2025 is the earliest likely streaming date. Meanwhile, HBO and Max subscribers looking for horror thrills won’t have to wait as long. The highly anticipated follow-up season of The Last of Us is set to hit the platform this April.
It
- Release Date
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September 8, 2017
- Runtime
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135 Minutes
- Director
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Andy Muschietti
Source: Luiz Fernando/X
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