Bill Skarsgård will Reprise his Role as Pennywise in the upcoming Prequel “Welcome To Derry”
Bill Skarsgård will reprise his role as Pennywise, the demonic harlequin from the horror film It and It Chapter Two, in the Max prequel series Welcome to Derry. “It” is a shapeshifting alien entity that mostly appears in the form of Pennywise the Clown.
The upcoming Welcome to Derry, still under a working title, is a Max show coming in 2025 that is set to be a prequel to the original duology. Welcome to Derry (a working title) was announced in February 2023. Like It, the film will be based on Stephen King’s 1986 novel about a group of children terrorized by a sinister entity that often takes the form of a grotesque clown.
Director Andy Muschietti, who directed both films, developed the project for TV with Barbara Muschietti, who worked on both films and Jason Fuchs, who produced and starred in the second instalment.
King previously said, “I’m excited that the story of Maine’s most haunted town Derry continues. I’m thrilled that Andy Muschietti will oversee this fright-fest with his talented sister Barbara. Red balloons everywhere!” Also, read – Moana 2 will be Hitting the Theatre soon Voice by Auli’i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson
The Muschietti siblings added, “As teenagers, we read chapters of Stephen King’s It until the thick paperbacks broke. It’s an epic story that has everything we love in our It films. We can’t wait to share Steve’s novel’s depth, humour, humanity, and horror.”
Bill Skarsgård’s return is the best thing to happen to Welcome to Derry
For several reasons, having the original It star join the Welcome to Derry cast is a huge boon for the horror show. One such reason is that the entity’s age makes it the only major character where an original cast member could reprise their role from the 2017 film. The show story is set in the 1960s, decades before the original movie storyline, which took place in 1989 after a prologue in 1988. None of the other central characters from the original film would be alive during the prequel’s timeline, as they were born in the mid-1970s.
One of the most important reasons why Skarsgård’s return helps Welcome to Derry is that Pennywise’s origins have already been explored in It: Chapter Two. While the exact origin implied in the scene may have been fabricated by the monster, it does involve an old photo of a clown without makeup, played by Bill Skarsgård.
Bill Skarsgård’s successful journey after playing Pennywise
After playing Pennywise, Skarsgård appeared in the blockbuster John Wick: Chapter 4. Bill Skarsgard’s upcoming include movies Nosferatu with Nicholas Hoult and Aaron Taylor-Johnson and The Crow with FKA Twigs.