Fans of horror flicks and particularly Stephen King’s film adaptations of his scary books may be slightly disappointed with the next piece of news: the long-in development big screen take on IT has been shelved for the time being, due to the withdrawal of director Cary Fukunaga.
The Wrap reports that Fukunaga (who is largely known for directing the entire first season of TV’s TRUE DETECTIVE) has quit the New Line Cinema production, which was revealed to be an epic two-film adaptation of King’s gargantuan 1,138 page novel, due to budget cuts and creative conflicts.
According to reports, the director “repeatedly clashed with the studio and did not want to compromise his artistic vision.” As a result, it seems the film “will not move forward as planned this summer and has been pushed indefinitely.”
This will be a disappointing blow to British actor Will Poulter who was lined up to play the iconic antagonist Pennywise the Clown, which was the role famously played by Tim Curry in the 1990 TV mini-series.
It remains to be seen for the moment whether it will mean that the film will be postponed indefinitely or whether the project will recommence once picked up again by a different director. If so, will Poulter still be in line to play Pennywise? He was after all cast by Fukunaga.
On top of all this, The Wrap also suggest New Line would prefer to make a single film, as opposed to the two volumes Fukunaga had in mind.
Fans of King’s film adaptations won’t have to wait too long until the next big screen movie, as CELL is expected to hit screens later this year.
