Pennywise's Origin Might Be Told in It Prequel Series

Stephen King's creation,Pennywise the Clown, might be getting a streaming series. The show, which is currently in the early stages of development, would tell a 1960s-set story in the same time period as the recent It movies and, somehow, also weave inPennywise's origins.

Variety verified that The Ankler broke the news of the show. The Muschietti's are returning to produce along with Wonder Woman writer, who would contribute to the writing. A writers room is putting together a story and Andy Muschietti, who directed the films, would direct the pilot.

In the original Stephen King book, it was established that the first appearance ofPennywise was in Derry, Maine hundreds of years ago, after a meteorite crash-landed on Earth. Every 27 years or so, it wakes up and feeds on the children of the area. There are two main sections of the book, with the same characters at different ages.

It seems like this story would be set in 1961, since it is set in the same canon as the film series. Many questions arise. Did other kids look atPennywise at the time? Are the adults who were followed as kids in 1934 now aware of it? What happened differently in the It movies if either of those are true? How does an origin set centuries before that tie? The issues this writer's room will have to break down before the show moves ahead are assumed to be the ones.

There is a lot of history to mine from the King books as well as a new story that could be created for the movies. The trick will be threading the needle between a story that doesn't disrespect King but still works as a viable new story.