We’re just a few weeks away from the arrival of It: Welcome to Derry, but fans at San Diego Comic-Con this summer and this past weekend’s New York Comic Con have gotten some early glimpses of what to expect from the Stephen King series. At SDCC, HBO revealed the show’s very first scene, and io9 was lucky enough to be there—though we’ve been haunted by it ever since.
With It: Welcome to Derry‘s premiere dropping October 26, everyone will soon get to feast their eyeballs on the harrowing sequence. And It and It Chapter Two helmer Andy Muschietti, co-creator of the HBO series as well as the director of several episodes, is here to explain/warn you about the thinking behind its opening.
“We wanted to raise the bar higher in terms of shock value,” Muschietti told Deadline. “It’s about a self-imposed mandate of opening with an event that is shocking enough that you put the audience in a position where nothing is taken for granted, where nothing is safe in this world.”
He continued. “You’re immediately putting people on the edge of the seat. We needed a strong opening. One of the things I love about this scene is the build-up. Of course, it has a big, graphic, and shocking conclusion, but the build-up is something that was important.”
That’s quite a build-up to the build-up—but we’re here to tell you the scene does not disappoint. io9 will have more from Andy Muschietti and his producing partner and sister Barbara Muschietti, as well as other cast and crew of It: Welcome to Derry, as the hour of Pennywise approaches.