Derry Showrunner Shares How Friday the 13th Part III Influenced His Take on the It Prequel

From Left: Jason Voorhees in ‘Friday the 13th Part III;’ Brad Caleb Kane; and Pennywise in ‘Welcome to Derry’.
Credit :

Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock; Monica Schipper/Getty; Brooke Palmer/HBO

NEED TO KNOW

• It: Welcome to Derry co-showrunner Brad Caleb Kane explains how seeing Friday the 13th Part III as a child influenced his work on the HBO prequel series.
• The producer discusses his passion for horror and its impact on audience reactions in theaters.
• Kane shares insights into the upcoming Crystal Lake prequel series featuring Linda Cardellini.

Brad Caleb Kane, co-showrunner of HBO’s It: Welcome to Derry, reflects on his love for slasher films and how his childhood experiences shaped his creative journey. Growing up during the 1980s, a pivotal era for horror cinema, Kane was profoundly influenced by the genre.

“Every Friday night, a new slasher film would premiere—be it The New Kids, Friday the 13th Part III, which I saw in 3-D, or The Burning. I vividly remember the crowds in those massive 1,500-seat theaters,” he recalled during a conversation following the season finale of the prequel series, currently available on HBO Max.

Kane specifically reminisced about the visceral audience reactions during Friday the 13th Part III, where a tense scene involving Jason Voorhees led to an unforgettable moment. “When Jason squeezed a guy’s head, and his eyeball popped out into the audience, the crowd went wild,” Kane recounted. “I looked around and thought, ‘I want to create that kind of excitement.’”

He emphasized that the thrill he experienced as a child directly inspired the emotional depth sought in Welcome to Derry. “We aimed to create an emotional roller coaster, making viewers invested in the characters so they feel loss, triumph, and those visceral moments,” Kane stated.

Throughout the first season of Welcome to Derry, surprising plot twists delivered shock and suspense, from a harrowing opening sequence to Pennywise’s terrifying transformations. Kane, a longtime Stephen King enthusiast whose journey began with reading Cujo at age eight, credited collaborators like Andy Muschietti for reviving the horror aesthetic while remaining true to its roots.

“Everyone involved in Welcome to Derry is a fearless storyteller,” Kane said, explaining how they embraced risk-taking. “We had an initial pilot where all the kids survived. I suggested, ‘What if we killed almost all of them to prove that no one is safe?’ They embraced the idea wholeheartedly. I knew I had found my creative partners.”

The series is marked by significant character arcs, particularly in scenes portraying sacrifice. Kane discussed the powerful emotional payoff of character Richie’s (Arian Cartaya) death while saving Marge (Matilda Lawler). “His death felt natural given the narrative we built,” he explained.

Looking ahead, Kane is also developing a prequel to Friday the 13th that centers around Pamela Voorhees, Jason’s mother. “I’m aiming to evoke that same raw, visceral audience reaction I experienced as a kid in theaters,” he asserted.

This new series, produced by A24 for Peacock, will star Linda Cardellini in a role that Kane insists will showcase her remarkable range. “This isn’t just another horror story; it’s an exploration of Pam’s character,” he noted. “I don’t think Linda has ever had a chance to shine like this. It’s going to be a stunning performance that captures everyone’s attention.”