WELCOME TO DERRY, first preview of episode 6 released; The Creative Team Breaks Down Pennywise Episode 5’s Debut
This: Welcome to Derry made us wait for episode 5, “29 Neibolt Street,” to see Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise the Clown in all his gruesome glory. Although he has taken on many other gruesome forms since the HBO series began, Pennywise is undoubtedly the main event in the eyes of horror fans.
Now that it’s been unleashed with three episodes remaining, we hope to see a lot more of Pennywise in the weeks to come. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly (via FearHQ.com), executive producer Barbara Muschietti discussed the decision to delay the Clown’s appearance.
“We decided that this season, Pennywise should be a bit like the shark in Jaws.” she explained. “You really have to be strategic. In both films, it was very important for us to keep the mystery and the fear of this character alive. We find that familiarity is the enemy of that. So it was important for us to delay the pleasure, or the terror, as much as possible.”
Director Andy Muschietti called it “a game of anticipation” has “Put people in that state of, ‘I need to see the clown! Where is he?! “That’s what we would have liked as an audience. It’s a bit of a slow process.”
Showrunner Jason Fuchs agreed, explaining that television is the perfect medium to see Pennywise in different forms and to “Explore other ways this is going to torment these children.”
Many fans were shocked that Pennywise the Clown was completely absent from This: Welcome to Derrythe driver of ; instead, he takes the form of a demon-like baby who has been warped and transformed by nuclear waste.
Responding to this, Fuchs said: “We went back and forth. We always knew that this wasn’t going to be front and center in the first scene of the pilot in the same way that It 1 opens with the introduction of Georgie and Pennywise. But a lot of the creative process was, ‘When do we introduce this character in the context of this story?’ Ultimately, it was really a function of the story and the characters driving it.”
Looking ahead, the showrunner added that Skarsgård’s film “The performance goes to unexpected places” and said the actor “has opportunities with this character that the history of the films hasn’t presented. Not only do you get a really, hopefully, exciting build-up before you see Pennywise, but you’ll also see Bill do things that you haven’t seen him do in this character yet.”
HBO also shared a first look at This: Welcome to DerryThe sixth episode of, “In the Name of the Father”. Teasing the aftermath of Pennywise’s vicious underground attack, it looks like we can expect to learn more about the creature as things go from bad to worse in Derry.
Set in the world of Stephen King He universe, This: Welcome to Derry is based on King’s He novel and expands the vision established by filmmaker Andy Muschietti in feature films He And This is chapter two.
The cast is led by Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, James Remar, Stephen Rider, Madeleine Stowe, Rudy Mancuso and Bill Skarsgård.
The series, from Warner Bros. Television and developed for television by filmmakers Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti (He, The lightning) and Jason Fuchs (Wonder Woman), will debut on HBO and will also be available to stream on HBO Max. Muschietti will direct four episodes of the nine-episode series.
Five episodes of This: Welcome to Derry are now streaming on HBO Max, with new episodes released weekly until the season finale on December 14.
