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Spoilers below for “It: Welcome to Derry.”
Stephen King is weighing in on the terrifying return of Pennywise the Dancing Clown.
The horror legend recently shared his thoughts on HBO’s “It: Welcome to Derry,” the new prequel series expanding the universe of his iconic 1986 “It” novel — and even he’s spooked.
“I like ‘Welcome to Derry’ a lot,” King, 78, exclusively told The Post. “There are plenty of horrors and lots of surreal visuals. There’s a supermarket scare that sticks in my mind, complete with pickle jars.”
The bestselling author went on to praise Andy Muschietti, the filmmaker who helmed both blockbuster “It” movies and who has since returned to direct “It: Welcome to Derry” alongside his sister, Barbara Muschietti.
“Andy Muschietti has got a touch of genius when it comes to scares,” the King of Horror shared. “Folks are going to see some scenes in their nightmares.”
As for Pennywise, King teased that longtime fans of the franchise won’t be disappointed.
Bill Skarsgård, who portrayed the killer dancing clown in the 2017 and 2019 films, has returned to the role for the new prequel series.
“When Pennywise finally appears, he’s still scary as hell,” the writer concluded.
The creators of “It: Welcome to Derry” praised King ahead of the show’s premiere last weekend.
After explaining how the prequel series was born, Andy revealed that the “Shining” author was involved in the prequel’s production “from a very reasonable perspective.”
“He’s not controlling everything we do, even though he’s blessing and screening everything that we show him,” the “Flash” filmmaker, 52, told The Post. “Of course, he’s obviously verbal when he doesn’t like something. But most of the time, he seems very excited and open to this creation.”
“He’s a great human being, too,” Barbara, 53, added.
Brad Caleb Kane, who serves as showrunner of “It: Welcome to Derry” alongside Jason Fuchs, went on to credit King with “godfathering” the new prequel series set decades before the events of “It” and “It Chapter Two.”
“He was basically very generous with his creation and with his universe,” Kane, 52, told The Post. “He said: ‘Here it is. I’ve written it all down – play around in it.’”
“We shared it with him as we wrote it, and he guided us,” he added.
“We wanted to do something that he’d feel good about and be proud of,” the “Argylle” writer, 39, said. “We were thrilled, this past week, he put out a Thread saying he’d seen it and loved it. And episode one was terrifying.”
“That was a great way to go into this whole launch of the show,” Fuchs added. “It was very, very exciting to see.”
“It: Welcome to Derry” kicked off on HBO and HBO Max on Sunday, Oct. 26.
The premiere episode begins with young, pacifier-sucking Matty Clements (Miles Ekhardt) sneaking into a screening of “The Music Man” at Derry’s Capital Theater. After being caught, he hitchhikes out of town to escape his troubles.
But Matty’s ride with a seemingly kind family quickly spirals into nightmare fuel when the mother goes into labor, giving birth to a grotesque, winged creature that attacks everyone in the car.
Matty’s pacifier falls into a sewer before he is dragged into the darkness.
Months later, a group of local kids made up of Teddy (Mikkal Karim Fidler), Phil (Jack Molloy Legault), Lilly (Clara Stack), Ronnie (Amanda Christine) and Phil’s little sister Susie (Matilda Legault) are still haunted by Matty’s disappearance.
Obsessed with finding out what really happened to their friend, the group ends up back at the Capital Theater.
Naturally, the night takes a bloody turn when the lights begin to flicker, the projector sputters and the same winged creature from the opening emerges from the screen.
Chaos erupts as the kids are attacked, and the theater is filled with screams before the episode comes to a sudden cliffhanging end.
While new episodes of “It: Welcome to Derry” are scheduled to release on HBO and HBO Max on Sunday nights, the show’s second episode dropped early on Friday, Oct. 31, in celebration of Halloween.
English (US)