How to watch IT: Welcome to Derry in New Zealand
Pennywise jumps from the big screen to the small in a new prequel series.
You can’t keep a good clown down. That’s the thesis underpinning IT: Welcome to Derry, a prequel series to, as you’ve no doubt surmised, the IT duology directed by Andy Muschietti. And while it’s technically a direct adaptation of Stephen King’s landmark horror doorstopper, more than a few elements from the novel as well as the larger King oeuvre are bound to creep in.
How to watch IT: Welcome to Dthe erry in New Zealand
IT: Welcome to Derry is streaming in New Zealand exclusively on Neon from October 27, 2025, just in time for Halloween.
IT: Welcome to Derry - Season 1
What is IT: Welcome to Derry about?
It’s 1962 and, a generation before the events of the movie duology, children are once again disappearing in Derry, Maine, prompting a group of young outcasts to band together to figure out what’s what. Given the demonic Pennywise the Clown is still chomping on children in the ’80s, the odds are fair it won’t go too well for them. Meanwhile, young African American couple, Charlotte and Leroy, Hanlon, have just moved to town and are adjusting to life in a place that seems to be a straight up nexus of evil.
The cast of IT: Welcome to Derry
Taylour Paige as Charlotte Hanlon; Jovan Adepo as Leroy Hanlon; Blake Cameron James as Will Hanlon, their kid; Chris Chalk as Dick Hallorann, a character surely familiar to Stephen King fans; James Remar as General Shaw; with Stephen Rider; Madeleine Stowe; Rudy Mancuso; Clara Stack; Amanda Christine; Mikkal Karim-Fidler; and Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise the Clown.
IT: Welcome to Derry trailer
Why we’re excited about IT: Welcome to Derry
While we’re always happy for more Stephen King on our screens, the big draw here may be the period setting. While the movies were decent enough, we kinda missed the book’s 1958 setting, and 1962 is close enough to work. And having seen the first few episodes, the series really does feel like a period-accurate adaptation of the novel. Time to get excited.
