HBO’s Brutal Stephen King Series Won’t Return in 2026

1 week ago 14

Published Oct 14, 2026, 1:56 PM EDT

Adam Blevins began working in the entertainment industry in 2022 as a Staff Writer for Agents of Fandom, where he progressed to Senior Editor and interviewed talent from Marvel Studios, House of the Dragon, and Planet of the Apes. He joined Collider as a News Author in April 2024, was promoted to a Senior position in December 2024, and has written over 3,000 articles for the site, including exclusives relating to Avengers: Doomsday, The Penguin, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, and more. He primarily writes about the latest box office numbers and the hottest movies and TV shows on streaming, while also covering superhero and sci-fi news. He has completed a set visit for The Chosen and even has several months of experience writing Gaming Features at ScreenRant. You can find him on X, LinkedIn, and Muckrack.

Stephen King’s novels are responsible for some of the most iconic movies and TV shows of all time, but one of his most popular projects in recent years won’t be returning in 2026. All you have to do is flip to Prime Video right now to see a new adaptation of one of King’s most popular novels. After Prime Video dropped all episodes of the show at once as a binge, Carrie is officially the #1 most-watched show in the world, and as fans take their time going through it over the next few weeks, it’s not poised to give up its streaming crown anytime soon. Streaming success has been a theme of King’s recent projects, too — 2025’s The Running Man bombed at the box office before going on to become one of the most-watched movies of the year on Paramount Plus.

2025 was a year full of King projects, and while there were some hits and misses mixed in with the bunch, there was a new TV show that was a massive hit with both critics and fans. We’re talking, of course, about IT: Welcome to Derry, the horror prequel series that took over HBO Max watchlists following its premiere around Halloween last year. It took some time, but HBO finally announced earlier this year that IT: Welcome to Derry has been renewed for Season 2. Unfortunately, it’s been confirmed that IT: Welcome to Derry will not return before the end of this year, with sometime around Q2 or Q3 in 2027 being the most likely window of release. This is certainly disappointing, but not all that surprising in the modern streaming era.

When Is ‘IT: Welcome to Derry’ Set?

IT: Welcome to Derry is set in 1972, which is around 27 years before the events of the modern IT movie that was released in 2017. The show does feature a mostly new cast, but Bill Skarsgård did return as Pennywise the Clown in Season 1, and he’s also expected to return in Season 2. The show was written and created for TV by Andy Muschietti, who has been tapped to direct the DCU’s first Batman movie, and Jason Fuchs. The series holds solid marks of 81% from critics and 82% from audiences on the aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes.

Check out the first season of IT: Welcome to Derry on HBO Max and stay tuned to Collider for more updates and coverage of Season 2.