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“Welcome to Derry” – James Remar, Taylour Paige and More Cast in Pennywise Prequel Series

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Coming soon from HBO Max, the series “Welcome to Derry” will serve as an official prequel to the two Stephen King-based IT movies from Andy Muschietti, and Deadline brings us the first casting news tonight. Taylour Paige (Zola), Jovan Adepo (“Watchmen”), Chris Chalk (“Perry Mason”), and James Remar (Oppenheimer) will star, Deadline reports.

The site notes, “Their character details have yet to be revealed.”

Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti and Jason Fuchs are on board the Pennywise prequel project from Warner Bros. Television, with Muschietti set to direct several episodes.

Variety had reported last year, “The series will begin in the 1960s in the time leading up to the events of It: Part One, the 2017 film based on the Stephen King horror novel. The story is also said to include the origin story of Pennywise the Clown.”

Jason Fuchs (Wonder Woman, Ice Age: Continental Drift) and Brad Caleb Kane (“Moonhaven,” “Black Sails,” “Fringe”) will serve as co-showrunners for the prequel series.

Published in 1986, Stephen King’s massive novel was of course first turned into a mini-series in 1990, with Tim Curry playing the role later played by Bill Skarsgård in the movies.

The tale centers on the town of Derry, Maine, where a group of friends called the Losers’ Club battle Pennywise the killer clown first as kids, and then 27 years later as adults.

James Remar in ‘Black Lightning’ (2017)

Writer in the horror community since 2008. Editor in Chief of Bloody Disgusting. Owns Eli Roth's prop corpse from Piranha 3D. Has four awesome cats. Still plays with toys.

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“Chucky” Season 3: Episode 7 Review – The Show’s Bloodiest Episode to Date!

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Chucky Season 3 penultimate episode

Not even death can slow Chucky in “There Will Be Blood,” the penultimate episode of ChuckySeason 3. With the killer receiving a mortal blow in the last episode, Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) can now take full advantage of the White House’s bizarre supernatural purgatory, leaving him free to continue his current reign of terror as a ghost. While that spells trouble for Jake Wheeler (Zackary Arthur), Devon (Bjorgvin Arnarson), and Lexy (Alyvia Alyn Lind), it makes for an outrageously satisfying bloodbath heading into next week’s finale.

“There Will Be Blood” covers a lot of ground in short order, with Charles Lee Ray confronting his maker over his failures before he can continue his current path of destruction. Lexy, Jake, and Devon continue their desperate bid to find Lexy’s sister, which means seeking answers from the afterlife. They’re in luck, considering Warren Pryce (Gil Bellows) enlists the help of parapsychologists to solve the White House’s pesky paranormal problem. Of course, Warren also has unfinished business with the surviving First Family members, including the President’s assigned body double, Randall Jenkins (Devon Sawa). Then there’s Tiffany Valentine (Jennifer Tilly), who’s feeling the immense weight of her looming execution.

Brad Dourif faces Damballa in "Chucky"

CHUCKY — “There Will Be Blood” Episode 307 — Pictured in this screengrab: (l-r) Brad Dourif as Charles Lee Ray, Chucky — (Photo by: SYFY)

Arguably, the most impressive aspect of “Chucky” is how series creator Don Mancini and his fantastic team of writers consistently swing for the fences. That constant “anything goes” spirit pervades the entire season, but especially this episode. Lexy’s new beau, Grant (Jackson Kelly), exemplifies this; he’s refreshingly quick to accept even the most outlandish concepts – namely, the White House as a paranormal hub and that his little brother’s doll happens to be inhabited by a serial killer.

But it’s also in the way that “There Will Be Blood” goes for broke in ensuring it’s the bloodiest episode of the series to date. Considering how over-the-top and grisly Chucky’s kills can be, that’s saying a lot. Mancini and crew pay tribute to The Shining in inspired ways, and that only hints at a fraction of the bloodletting in this week’s new episode.

Brad Dourif Chucky penultimate episode

CHUCKY — “There Will Be Blood” Episode 307 — Pictured in this screengrab: Brad Dourif as Charles Lee Ray — (Photo by: SYFY)

“Chucky” can get away with splattering an insane amount of blood on the small screen because it’s counterbalanced with a wry sense of humor and campy narrative turns that are just as endearing and fun as the SFX. Moreover, it’s the fantastic cast that sells it all. In an episode where Brad Dourif makes a rare appearance on screen, cutting loose and having a blast in Chucky’s incorporeal form, his mischievous turn is matched by Tiffany facing her own mortality and Nica Pierce’s (Fiona Dourif) emotionally charged confrontation with her former captor.

There’s also Devon Sawa, who amusingly continues to land in Chucky’s crosshairs no matter the character. Season 3 began with Sawa as the deeply haunted but kind President Collins, and Sawa upstages himself as the unflappably upbeat and eager-to-please doppelganger Randall Jenkins. That this episode gives Sawa plenty to do on the horror front while playing his most likable character yet on the series makes for one of the episode’s bigger surprises. 

The penultimate episode of “Chucky” Season 3 unleashes an epic bloodbath. It delivers scares, gore, and franchise fan service in spades, anchored by an appropriate scene-chewing turn by Dourif. That alone makes this episode a series highlight. But the episode also neatly ties together its characters and plot threads to pave the way for the finale. No matter how this season wraps up, it’s been an absolute pleasure watching Chucky destroy the White House from the inside.

“Chucky” Season 3: Part 2 airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on USA & SYFY.

4.5 out of 5 skulls

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