The 'True Detective' director has dropped out of the New Line Cinema project after clashing with the studio over budget issue.
- May 26, 2015
AceShowbiz - Cary Fukunaga has dropped out as the director of New Line Cinema's two-part adaptation of Stephen King's "It". According to TheWrap, the director decided to leave the project after clashing with the studio regarding budget issue.
"It" was set up at Warner Bros. before moving to New Line in recent weeks. The movie was supposed to move forward this summer but it is now pushed back as the director left the project. Sources said that Fukunaga's exit was because his recent drafts were coming in over-budget and he didn't want to compromise and minimize the budget which was said to be $30 million for the first film. He insisted to start shooting in New York and refused to choose other shooting location which is less expensive.
Fukunaga believed that King's classic novel deserved an epic adaptation, so he wanted everything to be perfect. He planned the movie to be a two-part adaptation. The first film would feature the main characters as child and the second will feature the adulthood. On the other hand, the studio just wanted a single part movie which features both child and adult characters. They consider a movie starring children would be less in demand.
It's unclear whether New Line will go back to square one with "It", or try and stay on track with a new director. The director's exit, however, made fans question whether the newly added cast member, Will Poulter, who was set to play Pennywise, will still be involved in a future incarnation of the project or not.
The film is based on King's 1986 classic novel about a group of preteens terrorized by a malevolent entity that preys on children, called "It". Fukunaga had written the scripts for both "It" movies with Chase Palmer. Roy Lee, Dan Lin, Doug Davison, Seth Grahame-Smith, and David Katzenberg are producing.
