Ahead of its release, It: Welcome to Derry is already off to a good start with a favorable critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes. The upcoming supernatural horror series is set to premiere exclusively on HBO and HBO Max on October 26, just in time for the spooky season.

The series is based on Stephen King’s classic 1986 novel It and will serve as a prequel to Andy Muschietti’s It (2017) and It: Chapter Two (2019). Bill Skarsgård, who also serves as one of the show’s executive producers, reprises his role as Pennywise the Clown.

How does It: Welcome to Derry reviews and Rotten Tomatoes score compare to the movies?

It: Welcome to Derry currently boasts an 80% critics score on the review aggregator site, just a few points shy of the 2017 movie’s 85% score. It did, however, surpass the last movie, which garnered a 62% critics score — still considered generally good, albeit with mixed critical reception. 

The eight-episode prequel series will be set in 1962, exploring what transpired before the events of the films and before the Losers’ Club first encountered Pennywise. According to the official logline, It: Welcome to Derry “expands the vision established” by Muschietti in the box office hit features. 

The series is developed for television by filmmakers Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs. In addition to Skarsgård, the forthcoming series also stars Jovan Adepo (Overlord) as Leroy, Taylour Paige (Hit the Floor) as Charlotte, Chris Chalk (Perry Mason) as Dick, James Remar (Dexter) as General Shaw, Stephen Rider (What Lies Under the Tree) as Hank, and Rudy Mancuso (The Flash) as Captain Pauly Russo, among others. 

It: Welcome to Derry debuts on Sunday, October 26, at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT. New episodes will air on Sundays, continuing through the season finale on December 14.