At present, very little is known about the developing Welcome To Derry – the upcoming HBO Max series that will serve as a prequel to the hit blockbusters IT and IT Chapter Two. Obviously the "prequel" part tells us that the show will be set before the events of the movies instead of after (a.k.a. the mid-20th century), but we have yet to get official confirmation of the exact setting, and while a number of actors have signed on, we don't know who any of them are playing. Information is very valuable right now for all Stephen King fans anticipating the project – which is why its exciting to learn both that production has begun, and that there will be at least one character with a firm link to a key player in the films.
Director Andy Muschietti has revealed via his personal Instagram page that he has started filming the pilot for Welcome To Derry – and while the caption he's included doesn't offer us much information, the image is intriguing. Check out his post below:
While the full name of Derry's chief of police may not ring any bells, the last name certainly should. Henry Bowers, played by Nicholas Hamilton, was the savage and sadistic bully who tortured the members of the Losers' Club when they were children in 2017's IT. Henry's father is Oscar Bowers, played by Stuart Hughes, and he is a police officer, so my guess would be that Clint Bowers is Henry's grandfather in addition to being the top cop in Maine's most haunted town.
So who is playing Clint Bowers? When one looks at the actors who have been announced as part of the ensemble thus far, it's not hard to suss out that's it's probably veteran character actor James Remar. If Clint turns out to be anything like his offspring, or his offspring's offspring, we can probably expect that he is going to be a hateful son of a bitch and one of the show's main villains.
One significant question that is raised by this image regards how Welcome To Derry is being impacted by the on-going Writers Guild of America strike. Major shows like Stranger Things have halted production amid the ongoing conflict, but it appears that the IT prequel is still rolling cameras for now. One has to wonder if there may be schedule pressure for Andy Muschietti in play, as the filmmaker is surely going to be heavily promoting the upcoming blockbuster The Flash in the coming weeks, with the much-buzzed about DC film set to hit theaters next month.
Hopefully we'll only continue to learn about more connections between the IT films and Welcome To Derry as the show continues to move through development (you can refresh yourself on the movies right now if you have a HBO Max subscription). Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for the latest updates and keep track of all of the Stephen King projects Hollywood has in the works with our Upcoming Stephen King Movies and TV guide. You can also learn about the full history of adaptations with my Adapting Stephen King column, and discover the titles considered the best of the best with our rankings of the best Stephen King movies and the best Stephen King TV projects.
