As IT: Welcome to Derry hits the ground running on HBO, the show’s two-part debut week comes after the Hollywood strikes forced production to pause for eight months.
Co-creator Barbara Muschietti estimated that “90% of three episodes” had been filmed before production shut down amid the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes in 2023, creating several logistical issues for the show’s storyline.
“We suddenly had to work in different seasons,” she explained to SFX Magazine. “This is a summer show, but suddenly it wasn’t a summer show any more. We had to create a different finale with a different climate.”
Additionally, Muschietti noted, “The kids were growing. Voices were changing. Schedules of actors suddenly became hellish. So it was a huge challenge for the studio as well.”
The strikes ended when the WGA reached an agreement with the AMPTP in September 2023, followed by SAG-AFTRA that November.
“Listen, I support the writers and the actors,” added Muschietti. “But for the people that were in the process of shooting, it was complicated.”
Following the show’s debut earlier in the week, which amassed 5.7M U.S. viewers in the first three days, the second episode of IT: Welcome to Derry was made available early in celebration of Halloween. Subsequent episodes will continue to air Sundays at 9pm ET/PT on HBO and HBO Max, leading up to the Dec. 14 season finale.
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