Cary Fukunaga quit Stephen King’s ‘IT’ reboot only months before filming was expected to start. Here’s why:
After the first season of True Detective, the idea of Cary Fukunaga directing a remake of Stephen King’s ‘IT’ seemed like an amazing idea. The movie was coming along, casting directors started auditioning actors, and producers were writing out checks, then out of nowhere, Fukunaga left the project and director Andy Muschietti was forced to take over.
Now Fukunaga has revealed why he and Chase Palmer left the project, opening up to Entertainment Weekly. Apparently, the split came down to one simple reason:
“It’s never easy,” he says. “Chase [Palmer] and I had been working on that script for probably three years. There was a lot of our childhood and our experience in it…
“Ultimately, we and New Line have to agree on the kind of movie we want to make, and we just wanted to make different movies,” Fukunaga says. “It’s like a relationship: you can try to make the other person who you want them to be, but it’s impossible really to change. You just have to work.”
Now The AV Club adds that some of the disagreements are due to arguments over budget and the movie’s direction, but one of the major points was also the casting of Will Poulter as Pennywise the Clown. It turns out Fukunaga and company were looking for someone like Ben Mendelsohn. Which caused major problems between Fukunaga and New Line Cinema. Fukunaga was interested in an old man chasing after little kids instead of a young actor.
The story behind Stephen King’s ‘IT’ revolves around an inter-dimensional predatory life-form, which has the ability to transform itself into its prey’s worst fears, allowing it to exploit the phobias of its victims. It mostly takes the form of a sadistic, wisecracking clown called Pennywise the Dancing Clown.
(Via Entertainment Weekly / The AV Club)
