After months of speculation, the status of Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise for Max's IT spin-off, Welcome to Derry, is confirmed.

Deadline is reporting that Skarsgård is heading back to Derry for the IT spin-off series. He joins the project as an executive producer as well as returning as the series star.

Taylour Paige, Jovan Adepo, Chris Chalk, and James Remar were previously cast in the series.

Andy Muschietti, who directed the two-part IT movie adaptation, will return for Welcome to Derry. Deadline's report states that he will direct four of the nine episodes of the Max series. He will also produce the series alongside Barbara Muschietti and IT Chapter Two co-producer, Jason Fuchs (who also helped develop the series), Roy Lee, and Dan Lin.

Bill Skarsgård is an acclaimed actor known for his role of Pennywise in the IT franchise. He first gained notoriety for his roles in Hemlock Grove, Allegiant, and Atomic Blonde.

Since starring in the IT movies, Skarsgård has had roles in Castle Rock, Clark, Deadpool 2, The Devil All the Time, and Barbarian. 2023 was a double feature of Skarsgård as he starred in John Wick: Chapter 4 and Boy Kills World.

The two films are opposite sides of the box office coin as John Wick: Chapter 4 was the highest-grossing film in the franchise while Boy Kills World flopped as it made just $3.1 million.

Coming up, Skarsgård will star in a remake of The Crow, playing the title character. He will also star in Robert Eggers' remake of Nosferatu as Count Orlok.

The IT movies

Andy Muschietti's IT movie adaptations began in 2017. The original novel of the same name was released in 1986 and was written by Stephen King. This was the second major adaptation of King's novel as a miniseries was released in 1990 with Tim Curry playing Pennywise the Clown.

The story follows a group of teenagers in Derry who are being terrorized by a mysterious being. The most popular form it takes is Pennywise the Clown. Jaeden Lieberher, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs, and Jack Dylan Grazer led the ensemble as the core group of teenagers. Skarsgård played Pennywise.

IT was a massive hit at the box office. Released in September 2017, the movie made over $700 million worldwide on a $35 million budget. IT Chapter Two was released two years later to less success, grossing $473 million with a bigger budget of $79 million.

The second half of the adaptation featured a grown-up cast. The teenagers return to Derry years after the events of the first movie as adults. Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan, James Ransone, and Andy Bean star as the adult versions of the Losers Club.

What is Welcome to Derry about?

Now, the IT series is being revived with Welcome to Derry. The Max series takes place decades before the events of the movies. The origin of Pennywise the Clown will be depicted in the series.

Max will release the series sometime in 2025. Luckily, the series has its Pennywise and won't require a recast of Skarsgård, who has become synonymous with the role.