It’s Not TV, It’s IP: HBO’s Newfound Franchise Focus

Last November, Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO of HBO and Max content, primed the press for a new-look HBO. It: Welcome to Derry—a prequel to Stephen King’s 1986 novel, ABC’s 1990 miniseries, and Welcome to Derry cocreator Andy Muschietti’s modern movie duology—had recently recorded the third-biggest debut in HBO history, behind only House of the Dragon and The Last of Us. (It’s audience would only grow, setting the stage for a not yet confirmed but still anticipated second season.) For Bloys, importing Pennywise, a horrifying, clown-like killer who’d been scaring readers and viewers for 40 years, to a network known for non-supernatural characters crafted for HBO—Tony Soprano and Stringer Bell; Al Swearengen and Logan Roy; Carrie Bradshaw and Selina Meyer; Larrys Sanders and David—was part of a pivot for HBO’s brand: “Leaning into the power of IP to help fill a void.”