It Prequel Series Has Found Its Leads
The new HBO IT Prequel Welcome to Derry will star James Remar, Chris Chalk, Jovan Adepo,and Taylour Paige
According to a report from Deadline, the IT prequel series, Welcome to Derry, has officially cast its lead actors. The HBO Max original series is said to focus on the expanded world of Stephen King‘s IT, while diving further into the changes made by Andy Muschietti, who directed both 2017’s It as well as 2019’s It Chapter Two. Not much has been revealed about the main characters at this time, but the cast is now set to consist of Chris Chalk, Jovan Adepo, James Remar, and Taylour Paige.
Andy Muschietti is set to return to the world of IT to direct multiple episodes of the prequel series, including the pilot. Muschietti is widely regarded for reviving the IT intellectual property from the grave after the polarizing 1990 television adaptation left audiences wanting more. The two Muschietti films, which starred Bill Skarsgard as the titular creepy clown, dominated at the box office, pulling in a combined $1.17 billion.
The cast of the IT prequel is shaping up to be quite robust, with a number of experienced up-and-coming actors taking the leading roles. Taylour Paige, who is perhaps best known for her recent appearance on Kendrick Lamar‘s latest album Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers, is a Spirit Award winner, set to appear in the upcoming Beverly Hills Cop reboot starring Eddie Murphy. Her impassioned performance as a scorned lover in the Kendrick Lamar song titled “We Cry Together” earned her widespread recognition in the hip-hop community, as well as her role as Ahsha Hayes in the VH1 sports drama Hit the Floor.
Chris Chalk has appeared in a number of intense dramas before his casting on the IT prequel, including HBO’s All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt and Perry Mason, as well as FX’s Feud: Capote’s Women, which he starred in alongside Naomi Watts. Jovan Adepo joins the prequel after receiving an Emmy nomination for his work on HBO’s Watchmen, as well as an appearance in the Oscar-nominated Damien Chazelle film Babylon. Clearly Welcome To Derry is stacking up to have an all-star cast, even if the actors aren’t yet household names.
Finally, we have James Remar, who stars alongside a host of Hollywood’s biggest talent in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming opus, Oppenheimer. Remar is also set to star in Francis Ford Coppola’s long-awaited film Megalopolis, which has been in development since 2007. Given that all of these actors are grown adults, it seems clear that the IT prequel will not be focusing on the young children of Derry, as the films have in the past, though very little has been revealed about the series’ plot at this time.
It Chapter Two producer Jason Fuchs is set to serve as co-showrunner on the prequel with Brad Caleb Kane, who previously was a producer on Fringe. With Andy Muschietti and his wife Barbara producing the series through their company Double Dream Productions, alongside HBO Max and Warner Bros Television, the project is sure to be a home run.
