Cary Fukunaga on Why He Left Stephen King's IT
A couple of months ago it was reported that director Cary Fukunaga (True Detective) dropped out of New Line Cinema's big screen adaptation of Stephen King's IT. Fukunaga seemed to have a great vision for the adaptation, which would tell the story over the course of two films. I was excited to see his vision for the film, especially since he's proven to be such a great storyteller.
Well, after three years of developing the project, he walked away right before they were about to start production. There have been a few reasons given as to why he left, some of those included budgetary concerns and disagreements about casting choices. Shortly before the director left, Fukunaga cast Will Poulter (We're the Millers) in the role of Pennywise the Clown, which would have been very interesting to see.
Fukunaga talked to EW about the situation he found himself in, and why he decided to leave the project:
“It’s never easy. 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 movie. 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.”
I think it's funny when the studio executives think they know best when it comes to the direction a movie should go. Fukunaga knows what he's doing. That's his job, and the fact that he's not going to be a part of this project anymore is a major missed opportunity. He was the perfect director for it, and it was said to be scary and vicious.
The movie will move forward without Fukunaga, and he has been replaced by Andy Muschietti, the director behind the Guillermo Del Toro-produced Mama. I'm not sure if he's got what it takes for this film, but from the sound of it, he's just going to go along with what the studio executives want to see.
I'm still curious to see how these movies will turn out, but I'm not as excited for them as I was. Letting Fukunaga walk away was a big mistake, and I don't think the move will be as good as it could have ben with his involvement.