“It: Welcome to Derry” frightened an impressive audience with its series premiere on Sunday night, which landed the “It” prequel series within the top three show debuts on HBO Max to date.
The premiere episode garnered 5.7 million viewers within three days of viewing the U.S., according to multiplatform viewing data across HBO and HBO Max. This gave “It: Welcome to Derry” the third most-watched series debut on HBO Max, behind only “Game of Thrones” spinoff “House of the Dragon” and “The Last of Us.”
Episode 1 of “It: Welcome to Derry” drummed up a bigger audience than its HBO Sunday night predecessor “Task,” which debuted to 3.1 million viewers and closed out its seven-episode run with 4 million viewers tuning in for its finale, both within three days of viewing.
Set in the world of Stephen King’s “It” universe, the series expands the narrative from feature films “It” and “It Chapter Two,” both helmed by Andy Muschietti. Andy Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs developed the prequel for television.
The cast in “It: Welcome to Derry” includes Jovan Adepo, Taylour Paige, Chris Chalk, James Remar, Stephen Rider, Blake Cameron James, Arian S. Cartaya, Amanda Christine, Matilda Lawler, Clara Stack, Madeleine Stowe, Rudy Mancuso and Bill Skarsgård.
“It: Welcome to Derry” fans will get to watch Episode 2 early on HBO Max after the streamer moved its debut to Friday, October 31 at 12:00 a.m. PT/3:00 a.m. ET in celebration of Halloween. The episode will also air in its usual Sunday night slot on Nov. 2 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.
New episodes of the eight-episode season will air Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.
