Stephen King is one of the most frequently adapted authors in modern history. Carrie, The Shining, The Shawshank Redemption, and Stand By Me, are just a few of the movies adapted from his works. In 1990, a two-part made-for-television movie was created from his book, It, which was a huge hit at the time and has since gone on to become a cult classic. The film starred the late John Ritter, Tim Reid, and Tim Curry shined as the evil clown Pennywise. Well after years of development, a new adaptation of the book is getting ready to hit the big-screen and the right talent is being gathered to make something special.
Cary Fukunaga (True Detective) has been selected to direct the epic horror tale. Fukunaga has proved to be able to pull brooding, honest, and horrific performances out of his actors, judging by his work on HBO’s True Detective. A lot of the drama on the series revolved around how different characters viewed the same events in the past differently. Fukunaga has shown that he is skilled at hiding his character’s motivations from the audience, which is not a simple feat. This allows a lot of tension to build because you never quite know what is real.
This seems like the perfect fit between director and story. The book revolves around a group of kids who encounter a seemingly demonic force, who takes the form of horrific clown. They eventual defeat their tormentor, until it returns when they are adults and they are forced to band together once again and defeat Pennywise…or die trying.
Producer Dan Lin (The Lego Movie) recently explained how the project came together to Vulture:
“The book is so epic that we couldn’t tell it all in one movie and service the characters with enough depth…The most important thing is that Stephen King gave us his blessing…We didn’t want to make this unless he felt it was the right way to go, and when we sent him the script, the response that Cary got back was, ‘Go with God, please! This is the version the studio should make.’ So that was really gratifying.”
The movie will be split into two parts. While Fukunaga is confirmed to be directing part one, he has not committed to the second beyond current negotiations to co-write it. It should be interesting to see what type of talent Fukunaga is able to attract, as he developing a reputation as an “actor’s director.” A release date has not been set yet, but expect to see it in theaters sometime in 2016. We will be sure to bring you the latest info on the project as soon as it hits.
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Source: Vulture