Director Cary Fukunaga has reportedly dropped out of It.
The 37-year-old filmmaker, who directed eight 2014 episodes of hit HBO crime series True Detective, was tapped to commence filming the forthcoming reboot of Stephen King’s classic 1986 horror novel just weeks from now.
But sources tell The Wrap Cary stepped away from his post after repeatedly clashing with New Line Cinema, the studio behind the project.
Apparently Cary thought it was best to make the It reboot a two-part adaptation, which raised flags with the production company. Speculation is rife New Line didn’t agree, as they found the subject matter difficult to market.
It centres on a predatory interdimensional life form who poses as a clown named Pennywise and other people’s worst fears to lure its prey. A group of outcast kids are Pennywise’s main targets. Insiders claim executives at New Line were convinced attempting to sell a horror movie starring a group of youngsters to grown-ups would be extremely difficult to pull off, especially in light of Poltergeist’s less than stellar debut at the box office last weekend. Poltergeist, which features a scary-looking clown in its marketing materials, landed in fourth place with earnings of $25.5 million after premiering at the American box office on May 22.
When Cary initially boarded the project Warner Bros. served as the main studio, but the feature moved to New Line in recent weeks.
It’s claimed he finally decided to leave the project over Memorial Day weekend after New Line introduced budget cuts. The director, who already worked on two script drafts with co-screenwriter Chase Palmer, allegedly felt his artistic vision would be compromised in light of the studio’s decision to slash funds.
It was meant to begin shooting in June, but the feature has now supposedly been shelved indefinitely by New Line until a new director is discovered.
