Andrés and Barbara Muschietti admitted that they were amazed when HBO approved the extremely frank and bloody opening scene of the series "It: Welcome to Derry", which sets the tone for the entire project.
The series "It: Welcome to Derry" — a prequel to the film adaptations of "It" directed by Andrés Muschietti — will open with a scene that the creators call one of the darkest and most disturbing in television history. At New York Comic Con 2025, Andrés and Barbara Muschietti said that they were genuinely surprised when HBO allowed the episode to be left uncut.
"There is a tradition of starting with a powerful blow — so that the viewer immediately understands what world he is in and that no one is safe. We wanted to set the tone for the entire series from the first ten minutes."
"During filming, I thought: “We will never be allowed to show this. There will be continuous censorship cuts.” But HBO fully supported us in everything related to horror and body horror. We were really lucky."
The series takes place in 1962 and is related to the early events in the history of Derry. The project will tell about the first generation of the "Losers' Club" — the ancestors of Mike Hanlon from the original films. According to Muschietti, in the first minutes of the series, "evil is literally born": the scene is a creepy combination of naturalistic shots of childbirth and a bloody nightmare.
Screenwriter and showrunner Jason Fuchs, who wrote this scene as one of the first, noted:
"I wanted viewers to experience real horror. This is literally the “birth of a new generation” of terror. The series takes place in the era of the Cold War — a time of fear of nuclear threat. And the beginning reflects these fears through the metaphor of the emergence of evil."
Bill Skarsgård once again played the main role, returning to the image of Pennywise. Joshua Odjick, Chad Rook, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, James Remar, Stephen Rider and others are also announced in the cast.
The premiere of "It: Welcome to Derry" will take place on October 26 on HBO Max.
