One of the most anticipated horror films in production suddenly got the power cord yanked out when director Cary Fukunaga surprisingly left It this past weekend. There had a been a lot of buzz about the upcoming adaptation of Stephen King’s book, which has never been given the big screen treatment. Much of the excitement for the film came from the production, where producers were not shy about talking about the project and their enthusiasm for It. However, The Wrap reports the following:
“True Detective” director Fukunaga repeatedly clashed with the studio and did not want to compromise his artistic vision in the wake of budget cuts that were recently demanded by New Line, which greenlit the first film at $30 million. The situation came to a head over Memorial Day weekend, leading to Fukunaga’s abrupt exit from the ambitious project.
The production ran into problems recently when the movie changed studios, going from Warner Bros to New Line. The Wrap indicates that New Line has had a deeper line in the sand when it comes to the budget and production demands. The most recent development was the casting of Will Poulter as the monstrous clown that terrifies a community of kids. And then comes back to terrorize them as adults once again. It has been reported that Ben Mendelsohn was actually the first choice, but New Line did not want to pay him his expected salary. So Fukunaga had to look for a cheaper, less notable alternative, which resulted in Poulter. In addition, the studio had an issue with Fukunaga opting to turn the movie into a two-part series.
As of now the movie is on an indefinite hold. It hasn’t been made clear if the studio has begun looking for an alternative director for the project. Regardless, they have lost one of Hollywood’s most promising talents and a bunch of goodwill that the movie had been fostering during the pre-production process.
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Source: The Wrap via ScreenRant